Back in the mix....

Getting started. On the line in Raleigh (with my friend and former teammate, Rachel Heal).

Just finished the Memorial Day weekend NRC criterium circuit. First was Raleigh, then came Baltimore, and lastly Somerville.
It`s good to be back in the thick of it on the NRC circuit, but the racing is just SO different from Europe that I feel a bit like a fish out of water. Lipton was in Europe while the rest of the teams were duking it out at the Southeast Criterium series, and most of the teams/racers seem to be pretty dialed in with their criterium plans. It seems to be taking me more than a minute to adjust back to the U.S. racing. Crazy how easy it is to lose a little bit of the explosive edge, as well as a little bit of patience when you haven`t been doing criteriums in awhile. I have been feeling really good lately though (thanks to all the racing in Italy), so every race I have tried to get going off the front... but for some reason nobody has worked with me... as a matter of fact, it appears that (at least up to this point) most teams have been quite content to attack simply to soften the field, or cover moves and shut them down... then play it all out for a field sprint. We`ll see what happens when Ina shows up....... :)

My Dad would say.. "It's payback time."

I'm in Raleigh, N.C.
Yesterday, the day before the twilight criterium.... I`m minding my own business, driving along looking for the rental car return location. I have my kit on, my bike in the back, and things are going smoothly. My cellphone rings.... I don`t recognize the number, but its local to Santa Rosa, so I pick up.
Here`s where it all begins:

"Hello, Ms. Lyons?" ...

Me- "Yes?"

"Hi, this is Ms. so and so Sather. I am the Assistant Principal at Rincon Valley Middle School. I am in the office with Myles right now and I have you on speaker phone. Myles would you like to explain to your mother what happened today in science class."

Myles goes on to tell me that he was messing around with an iBook computer at school, and for no apparent reason, decided to stick a piece of lead into a side opening. The lead got stuck and broke, and now the computer doesn`t work.
The assistant principal proceeds to tell me that this is considered vandalism. Myles will be suspended from school for three days, and will he will (which essentially means I will) have to pay for any and all repairs needed to the computer.

Lovely. Taking a deep breath.....

Me-- "Thank you for the call, Ms. Sather."
"Myles will you please call me from your cell phone in fifteen minutes, as soon as the bell rings and you are out of school."

I will not tell you what happened when he called, but I will tell you that it wasn't pretty. no it wasn't.
I am posting this picture just to remind myself how much I love my son... even though I want to kick hiss ass into tomorrow....ahem.

Working hard or hardly working?

it`s always hectic to get bills done before travel, nevermind yardwork --ughh!

life`s little obstacles

made it through without touching.. sweet.

Fast Legs!

... And another personal best for Myles.
He ran 5:07 in the mile for second place at the district championships.
It was awesome. Man those kids were flying! The winner was 5:05!

Coming back around...

Having swollen legs seemed to be a relatively normal "side effect" of travel, but little did I know what would come my way upon returning home.
I knew that my sleep patterns would be off, but nobody ever told me I could very well have bouts of nausea on and off for a whole week after flying back! It has been a very strange nine days, but I think I`m coming back around now. I actually felt sort of back to normal by Monday....just in time to make a day trek up to Tahoe and back the very next day. It was an eighteen-hour day all in all, but well worth the travel. It`s really beautiful up there.... too bad I had to go there and back in a day.
The distance didn't seem to be the issue though, because I think I got the European driving bug -- 90mph seemed like it should be the pace... I'm going to have to curb myself of driving that speed!
Below is a picture of me after a full day of work in Tahoe. I was up there doing my very first modeling shoot (I know I know... but really I`m serious!). That was a LONG day at the office! And let me tell you, I now have a whole new appreciation for the modeling profession! That stuff is not as easy at looks! It`s a whole different type of skill to look relaxed and ease, while pretending to look like you're fishing!! -- or how about running back and forth for an hour until they capture just the "right look" ...my calves hurt from that one! ;-) -- all the while, wearing clothes that are pinned and clipped to look better fitted and wearing shoes that feel like small boats (yea... you try running and looking normal in all that!)
Ohh... I have to laugh...It was reallly fun. And the people on the crew for the shoot were so nice.... they made me feel about as comfortable as possible with the whole experience.
You can check out the company that I was doing the shoot for at www.ActivaSports.com
but don`t expect to see me in the catalog til Fall 2007 :) --

Anyway... it was day filled with new challenges, beautiful surroundings, good times and great people... my favorite things.

Way to say it...

Thanks to Judith Ardnt for putting it so eloquently....

"A lot of people don't understand that cycling is team sport, they think that you only want to be modest when you call a win a team victory. I think it's just hard to explain to people exactly what teamwork in cycling looks like. It's not only about getting bottles or protecting each other from the wind or policing breakaways. It's also about learning to trust each other, to motivate or to calm down each other and just to be there for each other. When you get close to your limits or you get weak, you sometimes lose your confidence. Then you need people who tell you that you are the strongest, and give you the feeling that whatever happens they will be there for you, and all will be safe. That's also team work".

Tidbits from Italy

Downhill Fist Fight (almost):

Ok.. so since there was only one punch thrown, I`m not sure if I can really call it a fight... however, I should have known that I wouldn`t get out of Italy without my own little "confrontation" in the Italian peloton. It went like this: she threw the first punch. I begged her to throw another, then just maybe I could have justified hitting her back.

As if the speed we were carrying on the descent wasn`t exciting enough...
Btw-- it was hard punch.

Runner's High

Got home just in time to see Myles race semi-finals in track.
He won his heat comfortably in the 800. That was cool.
Then he placed 2nd in the mile.
He ran a new personal best in the mile.. 5:11 ...!! that`s fast...

Good Trip...

Celebrating our first team race block in Europe with Lara`s family....


A beautiful night in San Marino to cap off an amazing trip.

Can you say 50kph

Racing in Italy is certainly a new experience.
These women mean business in a whole different way.
The last two courses that we raced on were incredibly fast and quite technical. Most of the racers make me look like a mild mannered little lady in the field ;-) --- crazy, hey.
Oh and the big word here is "Occhio!" --which means "watch out" in Italian. It`s amusing to hear it over and over and over again.... all day long. Pretty much...they are either yelling at you or rammimg their bike and body right on up into your space, even when there is no space. No joke. It`s normal.
And today was a treat. I got to witness a full on "on the bike" fist fight... Italian style. That was funny. Really funny. I actually started laughing. I thought they might go down... but then all these other girls started yelling at them... I imagine they were telling them to stop... but the whole thing was quite comical. All at about 45kph...good stuff.

A little report about the first race in Italy--

Well the Gp Liberazione was quite an adventure for us Lipton Ladies. The race allowed up to ten riders per team, but there was a minimum of six -- we had four and Nurnburger had five, so we mixed into one team. We didn't exactly race as a "team" --but it sure was nice to be able to start!
About the race: WAY sketchy...and not at all as fast as it needed to be. Sure we averaged 40kph, but it just never really got going and there really weren't any teams interested in creating a break for the day. What all of this really means is that it was just one big jumbled mess of over a hundred women for 75 miles! Not fast enough to make any of the numbers dwindle, and not tactical enough to make it challenging in another way. I ended up riding at the back until two laps to go just so that I wouldn't have to fight to hold a position for nothing (we raced 12 laps on a flat 10k ciircuit). By the time it was one lap to go... holy crap!...things got really dicey! --even dicey for me. I ended up continually jumping over the last 3k, so that i ended up sittting on the very front --just to be safe and hold my position.
By the time we dove into the last turn, I ended up sitting third wheel and I let Lara (my teammate) take the plunge into the final corner in front of me. Immediately, I blocked by easing off --and then directed her from behind to "go!" when I saw/felt the swarm start (it was a long 500 meter drag to the finish so there was definitely some momentum coming from behind). Ayway...Lara jumped when I said go. She made it with surge... and I got swarmed.
She managed to hold on in the sprint for a respectable 6th place finish, and I rolled in safely with the bunch somewhere around 20th.
BUT---let me tell you that I am just happy to have come out of that one in one peice.
Never have I felt so much like I might actually take my hand off the handlebar and clock somebody....that`s how dangerous it was. Really unnecessary and really ridiculous. There was some stupid crash that took out like a third of the field in the last couple of "k" --and I have no doubt as to how it happened based on the crazy (and I'm not overexaggerating!) way that some of these girls/women were racing....

Ahhh then... another notch in the belt.

GP Liberazione

Oh.... so Italians do make up their own way of racing!

She`s on a mission

(check out the tire preesure..!)

The 42nd Ronde Van Gelderland...my first European Road Race

That`s what they talk about when they say that racing in Europe is different from racing in the States! It really was everything that I`ve been told my first race in Europe would be like.

First off... on Lipton, we had five starters and the U.S. National Team had four -- that gave us at least nine people out of 200 that could and would speak English throughout the race! Seriously, I didn't understand one thing that was called out by the other riders or officials... not one thing for 140k! As a matter of fact...during the race I just started saying EH!... when I wanted somebody to either hold there line, or Yeah?!.. when somebody said who knows what to me.
Seems silly, but it worked! Two syllables is all it took. Who would have known ;-)

So the race was straight up fast and furious from the gun. Yep.... there were road obstacles that made me feel like I was navigating some kind of crazy video game. As a matter of fact, here were some obstacles (known to us racers as road furniture) that were so dangerous they put people up on them waving large orange flags to direct us around. I never did hit anything and at some point I decided that I could ride pretty damn close to those things with five riders tightly tucked in across the road....and we would all make it through! Actually, most of the crashes (and ...there were ALOT!) happened on fairly straight roads. The problem was not how technical the course was that caused all the crashes... it was more like these narrow roads (that would be narrow with a capital N!) that would be the real issue. Everyone wanted the same spot, or they all wanted to move up at the same time.... that doesn`t work so well when you have nearly 200 women shuffling along, and many of them already on the rivet! I have to admit... I was getting quite the thrill from it! And once I learned how to claim my own personal space with the bunch, things seemed to roll along pretty well.

Here in Europe... one thing that is definitely different... expect to brake constantly. That is a big difference from U.S. racing. And I mean "breaking" .... it`s not just slowing... it`s full on slam on the brakes --over and over and over again, or you will ride right up the "you know what" of the rider in front of you.
Let`s just say that fast reaction time is a much needed skill! for European racing...

I won`t go into the "race details" so much (go to www.womenscycling.net for that), but I will tell you that ALL of the U.S. women raced well. Lipton and The U.S. National Team really made it clear that we can duke it out at this level. That was a cool feeling. Personally, my legs felt the effort at about 110k. I knew I would make it to the finish and I had figured out how how to be crafty enough to get myself in decent position (oh and yes we ride sidewalks and gutters here!), but when it came time to get going into the long 700 meter drag race to the finish out of the final turn.... I just hit my own little personal wall... I was right on Brooke`s wheel, but I got pinched, then gapped and then I suddenly lost my place to contest for a top ten finish!

It all happened so fast.

At the finish, I rolled across the line with a little last bit of umph (!), which earned me a top 25 for my European race --in a finish that did not really suit my strengths at all! (long drag race type ones you know).
Anyway, good enough for starters Hey....

And hats off to the other U.S. riders for their good finishes-- AND to Brooke Miller for sticking into the top ten.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Just before things get going. feeling good feeling calm... ready eddy freddy.


post race. everyone feeling good about the day.


brooke... all smiles.


cheers! all of us at dinner after the race :)

Spoiled...

Ok... so hold up and wait just a minute.... The Ronde Van Gelderland race report will have to wait.
The big news at the moment (in my world anyway) is that I am in Italy~!!!
I`m absolutely speechless... this place is beautiful.

Proof.... this is a view towards the house we are staying at.

All smiles....this is me out on a ride, taking in the scenery of Lucca.

Bmx'in... this was my "ride" for the day. Our bikes hadn't arrived yet, so I jumped on this baby and had a blast exploring my surroundings.... I wish all post-race recovery rides could be this cool.


ciao~

One more thing...

Yep... wouldn`t you know it? Miss Particular is also Miss Sensitive. I'm the only one on the team that got such swollen legs. Yes I drank water. Yes I wore compression tights. Yes I got up and walked around on the plane--and Yes I even did Yoga in the aisle! Whatever. All that stuff is overrated!

This is what my legs looked like after the flight and all day on the day we got here.


Deflated on the second day. Thank God.

More...

I`m a little too tired to post any stories...but here is a photo update from the last two days-enjoy.

After arriving, we went straight to a ret stop and had some good eats.

Good eats, thanks to Thomas

Our European mechanic - Denki (three hours in that van with him and now I am fluent in German... haha)

Our New Team Van -- Mercedes. that`s nice....

Our little home away from home hotel-- very quaint.

A typical site along the Dutch countryside (this was taken along what will be our race course).

Oh...and let us not forget that over here in Europe we race with road obstacles, more commonly known as "road furniture". And there will be plenty of this along the course tomorrow... wish us all good luck :)

We made it!

Hello from The Netherlands......stay tuned.

night vision

The trip to Europe begins with a 2 AM alarm and a 3AM airporter. yeah baby... here we go!