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.