Time for a Folder?

A couple of weeks ago I had a run-in with a pathlete on East Capitol Street. Yes, I still refer to them as pathletes even when they are not on the bike path. I mentioned my story to some teammates and friends but failed to blog about it because, well, I was just too embarrassed to let people know that I had it handed to me by a senior citizen on a folding bike.

I was commuting home after what I'm sure was a rather intense workout session at Hains Point when the aforementioned pathlete cut me off at a red light (I had the green). I did not take too kindly to this and decided to "show him who's boss" by passing him within inches and powering off down East Cap. Only it didn't quite happen like that. I did pass him, but he got on my wheel. Keep in mind, this dude was probably old enough to be my grandfather (remember, I'm from Alabama and they have 'em young down there) AND he was on a folding bike. Not only did he manage to hold my wheel, he actually had the nerve to pass me, and by the looks of him, he was not hurting at all. I, on the other hand, was in a world of hurt. Thankfully, he made a left turn while I went straight and continued on my way home, albeit with the proverbial tail between the legs.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I'm on my way to the Conte's Tuesday night hill ride. A couple of blocks from work I'm approached by a guy on a folding bike. He wants to know how to get to the bike path. As I'm giving him directions he asks if I'm heading that way, which I was. He then states that he'll just follow me. "Great!" I think sarcastically to myself, although getting a good look at the dude, he looked pretty fit. I went my normal commuting pace which is not fast but not slow either. I get him to the bike path and I guess I'm going too slow for him because he passes me. I think no way and I going to let this happen again so I get on his wheel and wind up drafting him the entire way to my turn, and he was not going easy. It was a struggle to keep up with him on some of the short climbs on the Custis. As I turned off on Quincy, he continued on to the W&OD trail because he wanted to get in a couple of hours. At this point I had actually asked him if he wanted to come and do the hill ride. I really had no doubt he could keep up.

Last night I once again ran into someone on a folder, although she had on Capri's and was carrying a pocketbook so she presented no competition (or maybe she did but didn't care). I asked her about the bike and she informed me that she had just gotten it but loves it. She told me about how nice it was to be able to carry it on the Metro, into her office, and that she's only had to lock it up once.

So what's the point of this blog? I guess I don't really have one. Except this whole folding bike thing fascinates me. I know there's an entire subculture of folders up in Philly. When they used to have the Manayunk Hill Climb Time Trial they even had a folder class. I'm not going to run out and get one, but think maybe they'd be a good commuting option for some. They are certainly fast enough. I have tried having a dedicated commuting bike but it just doesn't work for me since I ride to work, then directly to Hains or Arlington or wherever to do my workouts in the evenings. However, if and when I give up this whole racing business I just may have to consider one of these.

Wanted

If anyone sees this woman please let me know. She ripped my legs off last night and I want them back.


But really it's my own fault. My coach tells me that I need a break from "structured training" and need to start reducing my time on the bike so that I can begin my build-up for cross in a few weeks. And what do I do? I decide to do my first Goon Ride. It's not "structured," right? It was, however, one of the hardest group rides I've ever done. From what I understand someone named Bax was pushing the pace. Thanks to all the guys that gave me a wheel and shouted encouragement. I somehow made it to Ross Drive, at which point I wanted to pass out. Thankfully, Erin, Brig, and Steven wanted to head home so I was spared any more hills and a bit of dignity, that is, until they dropped me on RCP. No Erin, I didn't have a flat. I had two! :-)

Poolesville RR, Reston Crit, and New Bike Update

Thanks to Jen C I finally have that Poolesville win.

Overall it was a fine weekend of racing for CycleLife Powered By Specialized. I won the Poolesville Road Race; Robin got 3rd at the Reston Crit with a fine leadout by Sara Z (who still managed a 5th place finish), LJ scored a silver medal and Sonja pulled in a bronze in their respective categories at the Masters Nats Road Race in Louisville.

Not one to write race reports I'll just say this about Poolesville. Jen C led me to the gravel perfectly and I attacked on the third lap bringing Harlow with me. We bridged up to NCVC's Beth who had rolled off the front prior to the gravel. Harlow was not feeling well and had to pull herself out of the break and Beth and I worked well together to get a minute lead on the chase. She was an awesome break partner and I look forward to racing with her again.

On another note: Do Jen C and I really look anything at all alike? I've got at least 10 pounds on her and am not Asian. I only ask because when she violated the yellow line rule during the race, I was the one called out by the moto ref and asked to move to the back of the pack. Then when I was in the break, all the roadguards were yelling "Go Jen!" Beth even asked, "You're not Jen, right?" It all was quite amusing.

At Reston my legs were tired. Not tired enough that it was an overly difficult race, just too tired to do anything other than sit in. I still managed 7th overall coming in on Jen Max's wheel as we were pretty much the last 2 standing after a massive crash on the last lap. We had no hope of catching the group of five up ahead as we were gapped off from the crash so we just rolled in. I was fine with that as I was pretty apathetic about the whole race. I never once made an appearance on the front, never once attacked, never once reeled in an attack. I was just happy to finish with the pack on lead lap which is a first for me at Reston.

And finally an update on the new bike. The parts are ordered and should be in the shop. I'm just waiting on the call to bring the frame in to have it built up. SRAM Red with Nokon cables with white housing. Should look pretty sweet.

Something to make me laugh and something to make me smile

I was looking for something to make me laugh yesterday and decided to look up some video of one of my favorite SNL skits, Debbie Downer. Go ahead. Watch it. Try not to laugh.



In other news, I received my new super secret bike frame yesterday. I am grinning ear to ear. More on the bike later.

Numbers

14 road races already in the books
Approx. 25 more road races on my schedule
15 cross races on my schedule, not including Mercer Cup and Nationals
111 days until my cross season begins

Can you tell what’s on my mind? 111 days. I’m already looking at wheels and tubies for the upcoming season. Sadly I had to retire my tubies from last season but I did manage to get 2 (TWO!) full cross seasons out of them. I put some slicks on my cross bike last night so I can start commuting to work on it. I know I’m not the only one. I’ve been reading blogs and Facebook status updates and can see the current swelling. People are starting to have dreams about cross, starting to think about practice at Fort Reno, starting to talk equipment.

In the meantime I’ve been enjoying the road. I do love racing my bike on pavement, but something about racing cross just makes me smile. I’ll be racing with the big girls this year so I expect that smile will be masking quite a bit of pain, but I will still be smiling. One thing I noticed is that every single picture of me racing my road bike… I am not smiling. In fact I am sneering, grimacing, snarling, you name it. But pictures of me racing cross… I am smiling (or at the very least don’t look like I’m about to kill someone) even though I am sure the amount of pain I am in at the moment is almost unbearable.

Last weekend I went down to the Clarendon Cup to watch the elite CycleLife gals race. LJ and Sonja rocked with top 10 finishes. Mitch and Mel were also in the $$$. Hopefully someone will write a race report here. This weekend I am heading up to Philly to watch them race the Liberty Cup. I may be helping out in the feed zone, but if not, I will probably be hanging out at The Wall or on Lemon Hill. I love this race. In fact, it’s probably the only race which makes me want to one day upgrade on the road to a Cat 2. One day… but for now I’ve got 111 days on my mind.

Memorial Day Ride, er... Feast

Sonja decided not to make the trip up to Sommerville for the race Monday. Instead, she opted to do a chill ride with me. We hit the hills of Arlington and en route we passed the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, and Arlington Cemetery where we took a moment to give thanks to all the Veterans.

On the way home we looped thru Hains Point. Tons of people were there with their grills fired up. It made me HUNGRY for some bbq chicken, a hamburger, a hotdog, anything...

Once we got to the Hill, we decided that Matchbox would be our best bet for burgers and beer, but alas, it was closed for Memorial Day. Instead, we hit our old fave, Cafe 8. Mediterranean food... not the same as burgers and dogs, but still pretty damn good.

I couldn't decide what to drink so I ordered a coke, water and an Efes beer (or two).

The feta plata as an appetizer.

Pides, their speciality. This one is spinach.

No road races for me this coming weekend so I was looking forward to a hard week of training, but looks like the weather is not going to cooperate. I am considering a mountain bike race Sunday. Having not ridden my mountain bike in over a year, it could be very interesting, but I've got to start getting ready for cross season, right?

How long until cross season?

With the Murad road race being postponed Sonja and I took advantage of a beautiful day and went for a leisurely ride.

I was supposed to do some intervals but we got lost.  OK, we didn't really get lost... more like the sirens called us into the woods where we found some awesome trails.  Riding these trails made me realize how much I miss cross and miss riding my cross bike.  But then I realized, I CAN ride my cross bike whenever I want and now that I've discovered some super-secret trails so close to home, I'll be making frequent visits here.

I'm happy to be off-road.

Skinny tires and my road race bike probably not the best choice...

Contemplating:  Do we attempt to ride into the abyss (you can't see it but the trail ahead drops significantly under that tree) or do we turn around?

See you all at RFK tomorrow!

Can I have your autograph?

Wow Kenda ladies.  This is totally cool.  I will be asking for autographs at RFK Sunday.

The Return of Sausage Leg

Gwadz has inspired me to blog, or to at least post these pictures I stole off his blog from Bike to Work Day.

Note the sausage leg in the picture below? I guess this god-awful picture from a year ago hasn't inspired me yet.

Thanks Gwadz for the pictures!

As for what I've been up to lately... lots of racing but since I despise writing race reports you will have to check out the team blog. Really, how much of "she attacked, so and so covered, then she attacked" and on and on and on can one person really take? Hence, my blog has been quiet recently. For the most part, my racing leaves a lot to be blogged about anyway (however the team is kicking ass). Me, not so much, but I did get shat on at Ft. Ritchie. Better than getting dropped!

Dolan Break #2

It's very rare that I find myself in a break. In fact, up until this weekend of racing, I've never even been in a legit break. Just so happens that I found myself in not one, but two breaks at Carl Dolan and thanks to Susan M (and Janet O), I have proof of at least one of them. Neither break stuck, but both were fun while they lasted. I would love to find a pic of the first break with Chris K.

For CycleLife race reports, go here.

Jen Ras, Aihoa, Christine the water bottle kidnapper W, Susan McQ, Me, and Dori's butt.