First off was the USGP Derby City Cup in Louisville, KY. This race weekend holds a special place in my heart for a couple of reasons. One, it was my first “big” weekend of cross racing last year. Second, it’s where I met the Bain family – a wonderful family who took me in and made me their surrogate child for the weekend (along with Rachel last year and Cody this year). Third, there’s no other place in the country that treats Halloween like the families on Hillcrest Ave do – handmade, eccentric Halloween decor covers every square inch of the houses and yards. It’s no wonder that the street attracts thousands of trick or treaters, literally, who come to pay homage to the brilliant creativity lining Hillcrest Ave on Halloween night.

This year, my mom also made the trip to KY to witness her first cross races in person. I’ve passed along many youtube videos but those pale in comparison to the real thing. Needless to say, my mom enjoyed watching cross much more than crits and road races! And luckily the weather made it a perfect weekend for spectating – the rain had stopped so there was no shivering underneath wool blankets and rain coats but basking in the sunshine instead.

The races themselves were kind of a mixed bag for me. The rain the previous day had left the course muddy and greasy, which made me nervous since I don’t really excel in those kind of conditions. I have fun in the mud, for sure, but I definitely ride tentatively through the greasy turns, which means that with each turn during each lap the gap to the front gets bigger and bigger. As usual, I had a shitty start (although I had a decent start position) and had to try to power my way through other riders before the top women motor away. And, as usual, I worked my way through riders but not before the gaps to the front 3 had gone too far. I kept working hard, slowly picking off a few a few more riders until I found myself riding with Alison Dunlap (WORLD mtb bike champion) as we battle for 4th place. I thought to myself that I should just keep riding hard, hopefully harder than she can ride, until I drop her but she’s smarter than that. Alison held my wheel without an ounce of energy lost for a lap or so, jumped me going in to the Green Monster, and held the gap through the muddy ruts to the finish. I rolled in just behind her for 5th place. Alright, if I look back one year ago at this race, my result has improved significantly. I should be happy, and I am, but still….

Sunday was a different story. I could do nothing right. First, I started without enough pressure in my tires (this is a critical part of cross that I am still learning about) so I had to roll through the pits on the first lap for a bike change. I was already off the back since I was riding (even) slower because of my tires and after the bike exchange I was even farther back. Thing is, I didn’t have much in the legs to close the gaps like I did yesterday. Not much I could do but keep my head down and keep riding as hard as I could. I tried passing a rider only to pick up a piece of bark that gets wedged between my brakes and rim forcing me to stop to pick it out. More time lost. Less zip in the legs. I probably had a crash or two in there as well but all I can remember is that I sucked and my back hurt. 9th place that day – NOT HAPPY. But, it’s cycling and you win some, you lose some.

This past weekend in Boulder went a bit smoother for me, or more consistent I should say. Two 4th places – that makes four 4ths in 6 races. Something has to change…and SOON I hope!

But, more on the Boulder races later. Now it’s time for a ride in the warm sunshine. Who woulda thought we’d go from 15 inches of snow last week to 70’s this week?! Ahhh, such is life in Colorado.

Happy riding!

On Friday Chance, Nick, Justin and I try riding the course but with the Interbike show going on it was too difficult to tell exactly where the course was going to be laid out. Instead we meandered through the local neighborhoods to get in some ride time and stretch the legs a little bit. Thing is, riding with those guys only made me more anxious as I watched them jump curbs and ditches, bunny hop logs and eventually cars, ride wheelies down an entire block and right up to their rooms at the hotel. Ok, I might be exaggerating a little bit but for someone like me who has to put a foot down just to get my front wheel up on the curb it all looks pretty spectacular to me. And it only reinforces the fact that my skills are, let’s say, in need of a lot of work. Just try riding with Nick sometime – that kid is all over the place. He never rides in a straight line and you never know when he might shoot off to nail some sick trick in between moving cars on a busy highway.

Anyway, on day 1 I line up DFL. Yep, no points for me so back of the line, please. It took me a few laps to weave my way through the mass of women in front of me but eventually I found myself making up ground and then finally tagging Amy Dombroski who was riding in 3rd. Katerina was off the front riding in her world, Mary was riding in 2nd in her own little sphere, and then Amy and I were duking it out for 3rd. My mistake was that I didn’t put my head down and keep the pace high. In my mind I kept thinking that I shouldn’t waste all of my energy so that I had something left for the finish since Amy was just sitting on my wheel. Instead I rode comfortably, therefore letting Amy ride comfortably, and then she jumped me and I couldn’t respond anyway. I finished 4th, one spot off the podium. Ok, not bad for my first race of the season but still…

Day 2 I get to line up on row 3. Not a bad start position, but boy did I have a bad start. Just watch this clip (I’m in white on the left side) of me just about eating shit when I slip off the pedal trying to clip in. Well, nothing left to do but try to ride through as many people as I can until once again I find myself chasing Amy D. This time I can’t quite catch her. I was just about 6 seconds back but I couldn’t close the door. One more lap and maybe, MAYBE, I would have caught the little munchkin. Damn her again for taking the last podium spot, again. Eh, two 4th places on my first weekend out – I’ll take them. Hopefully things only get better.

I tried to test my mettle (try being the key word here) on Sunday against the likes of Alison Dunlap at a race in Golden, but it turns out I wasn’t meant to be on a bike that day. I should have known when I pinned my number on the wrong side of my skinsuit that things weren’t going to go my way. Then I realized I brought the wrong shoes – the ones WITHOUT cleats on them. Alright, crisis averted when Clint, a generous guy with a handful of kids, hands over a brand new pair of cleats. That’s 2 mishaps. Third one occurs when I go to put my race wheels on and find that I’ve brought TWO REAR wheels. Ok, not that big of a deal – I just have to race on my front training wheel instead. Well, here’s the 4th and final kicker…I flat the one and only front wheel I have before the end of lap 1. Had I actually spoken to someone about using a spare front before the race I could have averted this last crisis, but instead I stood there in the pit, with the most pathetic look on my face I’m sure, waiting for someone to come running over with a spare to miraculously save the day and that just didn’t happen. I had nothing but a hacking cough to show for it. Done. Day over. Adios. Took my dogs to the dog park and then went home. Boo hoo. Good thing I can laugh at myself now.

Ahh, but the weekend wasn’t a total bust. If you live in Northern Colorado, you must ride Soapstone Prairie. It’s a new park north of the Fort Collins that offers miles and miles of trails for horseback riding, hiking and mtn biking. On Saturday, we were riding under a cloudless, brilliant blue sky and perfect cycling temperatures. The trails are not technical but instead you do a lot of pedaling most of the time. That’s not a bad thing if that’s what you’re looking for. Plus, it gives you time to stop and look around, which you’ll want to do plenty because the views are amazing. You get a portrait of prairie land (go figure) with mountain peaks poking through the plains to the west and prairie land that never stops to the east. Right now the snow capped peaks are quite stunning as they tower above the high desert flora.

Now I’m waiting until Friday when I head east again for the USGP Derby City Cup in Lousiville, KY. Will we have mud or not?

Til next time…

First stop was the World Championships in Mendrisio, which is situated in the Italian part of Switzerland called Ticino, for the U23, women’s and men’s races on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunate luck struck us several times during the women’s race leaving the team without a podium spot in the end but that’s bike racing. The next day, a beautiful, sunny Sunday, Ben and I snaked our way through the swelling, raucous crowd lining the course until we found a comfy spot in a grassy field among hundreds of other cycling fanatics to watch the men’s race. Each lap we would watch the action unfold on the big screen except for the 30 exhilarating seconds when the race would roll right by our spot. We were so close we could have touched someone. Wow. For those 30 seconds we’d rush over to the road so that we could see the sweat in their eyes and the fatigue in their legs as they crested the first climb. Then it was back to the big screen until the next time the Tissot lead car would come through to alert us that the race was coming. Back and forth, back and forth for 7 hours. Actually, I think I took a nap in there someone. It didn’t really get too exciting until the last several laps when a solid break finally formed. The Spanish pushed the pace, Cancellara rode like a madman, but it was Cadel who raced the smartest. Of course the Swiss fans wanted to see “Spartacus” win but it was pretty cool to see them applauding Cadel for his audacious solo attack that brought him rainbow glory.

Next stop, Lausanne. 4 hours, a 17km tunnel, and a 50 dollar road side dinner later we pulled into our friends’ house in Lausanne (Blonay to be exact) and went straight to bed. In the morning we woke up to fresh bread and croissants from the bakery down the street – something I dearly miss in the US – which I sinfully loaded up with a mixture of butter and syrupy stuff (it’s the off season so why not?!) and called it good. The first stop on our tour of the Fribourg area was the village of Gruyere, as in the mmmmm so tasty, melt in your mouth Gruyere cheese that we tasted. This one street village’s most boastful attraction is a chateau that sits lavishly on a crag overlooking the photogenic hillsides and crags that surround it. It is also home to the H.R. Giger Museum, creator of the ugly creatures and special effects in the movie “Alien”. Absolutely beautiful.

Chateau D’Oex was our next stop. This quaint ski village plays host to “Balloon Week” each year and it is where you will find the Breitling Orbiter 3, the first hot air balloon to circumnavigate the earth.

Last stop for the day was the UCI headquarters in Aigle, a hop, skip and jump away from our host house in Blonay. When we walked in I immediately bumped into someone I knew who was there training on the track with the Irish national team. Small world. It was cool to see all the paraphernalia that decorated the walls and the track records that were written on the chalkboard such as Sarah Ulmer’s world record and gold medal pursuit time from the Athens Olympics. Butting up to the back of the building is the Rhone River and just next to that is the BMX track with its terrifyingly steep ramp and whoopty doos. Yeah, it wouldn’t be a bad place to work…at least for the scenery.

Day 2 in Lausanne – Swiss Anti-doping Lab, Olympic Museum, wine tasting, and fondue. Norbert, our host, works for the Swiss Anti-doping lab so we got a guided tour through the high security labs that test a large majority of the blood and urine that is taken from athletes around the world and across all sports. Norbert opened one fridge and bam, there were the samples from the 2009 Tour de France. Another fridge and bam, samples from Athens and Beijing Olympics. And the US National Team samples were there somewhere as well since we had just been visited by the vampires the day before Worlds. Lots of work goes into making sure athletes keep their bodies clean in and out of competition.

The Olympic Museum was our next stop. Lots of nostalgia there, obviously – enough to spend all day reading through the various records, perusing the different exhibits from each host city, watching videos on the Olympic spirit, and checking out the clothes, shoes, and equipment donated by athletes over the years from the summer and winter games. Definitely worth a visit if you find yourself in Lausanne.

Next – wine tasting. Not many people know much about Swiss wine because only 1-2% of it is exported, but it is certainly not for lack of it or its quality. In this area there are vineyards covering many of the mountainsides, terraced along the slopes from top to bottom. Helicopters fly in to carry out the buckets that are loaded with grapes (it was harvest time while we were there) because it is impossibly difficult to get them out any other way. You know, I’ve seen many of the ubiquitous vineyards that cover the landscapes in Italy and France but the ones in Switzerland are a different breed. The way they are situated along the steep slopes of the Alps is something special, a visual that you just don’t get in the other countries. The wine we tasted was ok but my palate is more accustomed to “new world” wines that have a bolder, bigger taste. Of course, that doesn’t mean we didn’t take several bottles home with us.

And last but not least – fondue. Yuuuummmmy! I’ll just say I don’t think I can do The Melting Pot again. Not after having the real deal. The fondue we had was half and half – half Gruyere and half vacherin. Deeelicious! Typically fondue is eaten with cubes of bread but occasionally it is also eaten with potatoes, which we also had and which was my favorite way to dip deep into the gooey cheese. Potatoes covered in rich, melted cheese? Yes please.

On our last day in Switzerland we made a stop in Zurich to see another friend who had migrated there from the US to study. Robby took us on a quick walking tour of the city, which I didn’t find to be incredibly remarkable. More or less it was just another big city, albeit one with A LOT of money. Banks, banks and more banks. Suits everywhere. Expensive stores lined the streets, the kind that wouldn’t even let someone of my “status” through the doors. You think the scene from “Pretty Woman” where Julia Roberts gets scoffed at in a store on Rodeo Dr isn’t real? Oh, I believe in Zurich it would have been very real. Don’t get me wrong, the old architecture and history of the city are cool to see but the expensive taste was just out of my league.

With that being said, the cost of EVERYTHING in Switzerland is out of my league. Right now the US dollar and the Swiss franc are about 1:1 but the price of everything there is at least double of what you’d pay in the US. 3 days in Switzerland was almost long enough to break the bank. It definitely burned a hole in our pockets. Yet, the county is amazingly beautiful. It is a necessary stop, if only for a day, or at the very least worthy of a drive through if your money tree hasn’t bloomed yet.

Finally, after 1 month in Europe it was time to go home. From beginning to end it was a fantastic trip but 1 month is a very long time on the road. Funny thing is, I was home for less than a week before packing my bags again. It’s cross season, baby!!!

By the way, if you have ever wondered, like me, why Switzerland uses the letters CH for its country abbreviation, it is because it stands for Confederation Helvetica – its name in Latin. I suppose to appease the French, German, Italian and Romansh speaking people that populate the country, the best way to maintain neutrality is to use Latin.

We pulled up to the course and immediately felt the energy that surrounded us. Spectators, police, and team buses filled the streets. Team Columbia’s bus was our home base for the day, and that in its self was a nice treat that pumped a little more energy into us. It’s not often that pro women get to enjoy the luxuries that the pro men probably often take for granted, so yeah, we were kinda giddy. But, regardless of the extra perk, we hadn’t forgotten our task at hand and how hard the race was going to be today. Keeping our nerves in check we rolled off to sign in and then each country was called up to the start line according to ranking – we were the 6th country to be called up so were pretty close to the front of the line, which was especially good for me. My job, to force the pace on the climbs for as many laps as I could, essentially started from the gun since the first climb came just several km’s after the start. The gun went off and I followed Kristin Armstrong straight to the front. We hit the climb, I went to the front to set the pace, I got to rest on the descent (it had stopped raining so it was slippery but at least not as sketchy as it could have been), and then went right back to the front on the 2nd climb of the lap. I got to rest again before we hit the 1st climb on the next lap and then didn’t have to worry too much about the pace up the climb because other teams were setting a solid tempo. Over the top someone ran into Mara’s rear wheel and broke a spoke so we decided that when we hit the 2nd climb I would give her my rear wheel (we had decided in the team meeting that a rider would be able to do a faster wheel change than waiting for the car because of the nature of the course and I was the first rider to give up a wheel) because she would be able to catch the peloton easier on the climb than on the fast and short flat section between the climbs. Just as I had gotten my wheel out, the team car pulled up and gave Mara a spare. She took off and caught the group but I was stuck in no man’s land – day over, back to the bus to watch the race on TV. Then disaster struck for real a couple laps later when Kristin and Amber both crashed. Amber ended up in the hospital with a broken metatarsal, but Kristin was able to chase back on with help from Kim. Then Kristin needed a bike change and once again had to chase back on – a lot of energy lost there – but she made it. Evie, the freakin’ energizer bunny that she is, kept setting a tempo up the climbs that was blowing riders out the back as if they were standing still. Evie kept coming back again and again to the front to set tempo, to chase, and to attack as if she had an endless supply of energy wrapped up in those legs of her’s. The woman is a freak of nature, no doubt, decimating the field like she did. Mara, Kristin and Evie pushed harder and harder to break the legs of the few women who were left in the very select peloton, but it was Guderzo (Italia) who made the move of the day. She attacked and a chase containing Kristin, Vos (Holland) and Cantele (Italia) ensued. In the end the 3 weren’t quick enough to jump on the chase and Guderzo took the gold, Vos silver and Cantele bronze. In our minds we knew that if Kristin had not had to waste precious energy chasing back on twice today, she would have made the podium – gold, silver or bronze who knows but it would have been one of those for sure.

In the end we didn’t get the WIN that we had hoped for and knew we were capable of obtaining, but we each did our job and gave it our best. Cycling is a tough sport and all you can hope for is that things go your way on the day. As far as the results go, today wasn’t our day but it certainly wasn’t for lack of leaving everything we had out there.

Now IT’S THE OFF SEASON!! Woooo Hooooooo!!!!! Well, for a couple weeks anyway. One season ends as another begins. ‘Cross has started and I’ll be anxious to join the races in a couple weeks in Providence, RI. Bring it on! First, tonight I will celebrate the season’s end and Kristin’s retirement with the team in Lugano and then will enjoy several more days here in Switzerland with Ben and friends in Lausanne.

Now, just 2 sleeps to go until the road race. I’m hoping my legs hit their peak on Saturday because this race is going to be hard, damn hard. 9 laps, 2 climbs per lap. Trying to keep up with the fastest women in the world. Ouch.

Internet will be gone tomorrow. I’m not paying 25CHF again so you’ll have to keep up on cyclingnews, Facebook, Twitter or some other race website for updates on the race.