Sack of Potatoes

Hello Everybody.

I'm kind of embarrassed in a way from my previous posts. I've seriously grown up a bit since then and still have a love for cycling. I want to continue this blog again because it is good to look back on and learn from mistakes and see how ridiculous I was. There has been a lot of changes and some things still changing. I took two years off from racing. The reasons were stupid. I lost myself. I gave up. I wanted to please everybody else and tuned myself out.

I can't explain why things are happening the way they are now, but I am a lot happier and have more friends than ever and making more as time goes by. I just turn to my bike when I have hard times as probably a lot of other people do. I still have a faint dream...This time I don't care what anybody thinks of me and nobody is going to stop me. The only direction is forward.

So I plan to start back racing next season. I'm getting my bike tuned/upgraded a bit to get it ready. I also decided to finally get a professional bike fit from Cycles Unlimited in Springfield, MO. I wish I would of done this about four years ago because I was a sack of potatoes. It was like night and day. I am very excited to start training and feeling right on my bike. I am looking for possibly a development team to learn on for next year. Anyway I just know I have to ride lots and do what makes me happy. So thanks for reading my blog and happy cycling to you :) Also I have a favorite restaurant called Tropical Cafe Smoothie .. I got a smoothie called health nut.. AMAZING.. super healthy stuff. :)

Hello ALL

Hello.

I have decided to come back to blogging about my cycling adventures. Its been a long time since my last post and I kind of fell off the face of the earth for a while. Right now I am still working at the same job I had last time, and I am riding my bike often. I have not raced one race this year and plan not to this year. I just felt like when I started riding I just jumped into racing being very impatient on improving. I had injured myself multiple times and got majorly burned out. Lately I have been just simply riding with no computer..no crazy wild insane group rides.. just me my bike and the road. I just want everything to come and feel natural. I have even gone to the extreme to go back to my natural hair color and have long hair again.

I am only a cat 3 still and might get back to racing next year. I still have faint dreams of racing pro someday, but really I am focusing on small goals. Our one and only bike mechanic in town got hit by a car last week and was in critical condition. It was kind of a shock to the little cycling community here and now he is getting better and may come back to his work.. even after he almost lost his arm. I have stayed off the bike for a bit after that happened.

I am still engaged to Nate and just recently went on a bike ride with him. We hadn't rode bikes in a while together due to work schedules. I got sick and had to end the ride early, but impressed him with my sprint! I duno he could of been just making me feel better. I feel stronger than ever this year that's for sure. Just going to save it all for next year.

I have really learned this year to appreciate everything. I have been reading Boy Racer by Mark Cavendish and its an awesome book. I can really relate to him because I seem to have the same kind of attitude as him. He also had to deal with a divorce and grow up quickly.

Anyway I'm back and plan to stay blogging. Hope everyone is well and riding lots :)

-B

Ice Storm 2010? hope not!

Ice is predicted for tomorrow where I live. We had a horrible ice storm last year about the same time. People actually died and was without any power for weeks/months. Kind of enjoy winter weather, but not too dangerous of weather..

I am officially an official. I'm glad I did it and I have a lot more respect now knowing how much effort and work goes into putting on a race/ride. Really enjoyed the man that ran the seminar, Jack. He went in his speech introducing himself and why he is involved with cycling. How people in cycling is just so great and how cyclists are unique. It is true everything he had said.

We may all be competitive, but when it comes down to it we all ride bikes.. WHY? Cuz we can ANd we feel like we are flying ANDDDDd we love it. Everybody is different, but we are all brought together by two wheels. Something just never really left us when we grew up haha! I hear trash here and there, but we all are in this together and we care. That's why our sport is so beautiful. This is kind of dramatic sounding, but its the truth.

I'm kind of sleepy too felt like I needed to post that I guess. Like I think I grew up tonight a little bit. The hours I spend alone at my job gives me way too much time to think about things. How RIDICULOUS I was.. from age 17-21.. seems like now I am realizing how little kiddish I acted over things. I am still young and act stupid.. I just think a little more. I'm pretty sure when I turn 30 I will think wow.. I was really pathetic in my 20's. My ultimate goal is to prove myself wrong. ha..

ok.. so I don't think anybody reads my blog cuz its stupid. There are probably some good points I hope and I come so close to deleting it all the time, but its kind of my own entertainment to look back and be like wow.. I should of gone to bed.. etc.

I go to work tomorrow early cuz of this ice storm coming.. I hope I don't have to work Friday.. I just want to be frozen into my home with my very ridiculous DOG Sophy.

Anyway hope everybody's training is going well and that you have worked off all your holiday cheer! Cya when I am thawed out from all this ridiculous weather..

Not a weatherman

Wow feel so bad.. told my friend that we weren't going to ride cuz it was going to rain.. and its warm and sunny in January.. what the heck.. LIKE usually its in the 30s.. VERY FRIGID!! Anyway.. NATE is working right now, and I just feel plain guilty to get outside when everybody I know is working. I put Sophy outside to enjoy some sun.. so there is somebody enjoying it. WELL Tour de hills is coming up..(my hometown race/ride) I am not going to race or ride it. They have to have eight officials for it be run this year. Last year we had like two... or something like that. Its a big course with dangerous roads so I sort of understand. Everybody wants to ride/race it so I have decided to volunteer myself to be an official for the race. I kind of have an idea what they do sort of. CROSS THE YELLOW LINE OUTTA THERE.. j/k but they do that haha! Also have to hit Tulsa this Saturday to go through a seminar to become one I guess. Not really what I wanted to do, but its something different.. maybe I can be an official for the women. As long as I am involved I'm good.. SERIOUSLY I just got engaged its nice knowing you're not going down the isle with some road rash on your face.. even though that would be hardcore. Still planning to race this year though. I am just going to be with my local club this year Buffalo River Cyclists. WHY? Because its my local team first off. Secondly, I have no opportunity with any other team, I do not have any awesome results yet.. I'm ridiculous I guess.... and I'm slow haha! I do know one thing is that I have fun and to me that is all that matters and what is meant to be will happen. I loved Vanderkitten, but something told me to do something else. I'm looking forward to moving forward with my life and settling down with Nate and his two ridiculous dogs. Went to Dairy Queen yesterday cuz it opened back up after the fire.. with Kabuki, Nate's pit bull mix we rescued, and she was so excited she got stuck between the back seat and the ceiling of my car trying to smell the food. Love her...

One thing .. its so easy to talk about somebody or judge. SO easy to be mean or not nice to somebody you don't care for. So easy to talk about somebody if somebody else is doing it that you know. Its really a waste of time and energy. I noticed myself lately being very defensive more than usual and decided to just let it all go. Sounds like a therapy sesh right now, but I have been doing this for the past two weeks and like I duno what made me change or what, but I'm a better person now and I just think differently. Getting older and realizing the world isn't rooting for you, but wants you there..

Watching the earthquake in Haiti really made me realize how bad some people have it. Like I just started balling when I realized how pathetic I was to be worried or upset over stupid stuff and that I needed to change even more. I'm very lucky to have what I have and to be alive with loving caring people around me. God is always there...even for the people in Haiti. Just always good to go with what you feel inside, and live life happy :) Anyway I'm going back to sleep stayed up too late last night haha!

OMG I'm ENGAGED!

So big thing happened obviously! I'm engaged! Nate proposed to me on the 1st on Peter Point Mountain by the buffalo river. We were going on a hike, and it was like the hardest hike I have ever done! I bushwhacked through bushes and lots of thorns that were big and small. Nobody hikes to peter point mtn obviously.... CUZ it was very hard to find somewhat of a trail. Once we were at the point it opened up to awesome views of the buffalo river and the surrounding hills. Really was a special place even though it was overgrown with thorns. It has a lot of history that goes back to the civil war. A man named Jackson that was a confederate stood guard on Peter Point watching union soldiers approach while he set out attacks and made them retreat about 1865. Anyway he finally was overtaken by the union soldiers, his name was wild man Jack. I tried to imagine what it was like to have been up there that long ago watching from so high up.

ANYWAY it was cool and I have a pretty ring and VERY excited to plan my wedding. It has been snowing more lately than usual and so Nate, his brother Clay, and I went out in my X3 to test it on ice/snow/slushy STUFF! We were going to go on some dirt roads and look at the snow by the buffalo. WELL we got on this one dirt road and it was okay at first and then it ended up being the roughest road I have EVER been on in my LIFE! huge ditches of mud and snow with like almost boulders in the road caused my car to rock like their was a huge earthquake!!!!! Well surprisingly my car made it fine with X3 drive and AWD. A++ BUT! We had to stop on a steeeeep slope and Clay & Nate had to scope out how to drive over these really weird rocks in the road. The car was in park and I was halfway out of the car and the CAR started ROLLING BACKWARDS! DOWN THE HILL! I thought SHEeEEET and BAILED! I did like a stunt jump rolling and coming back on my feet trying to scramble out of the way of the car. Nate ran behind the car.. (which was bad) trying to plan to jump in to get it to stop before plowing into the trees with the dogs in the car still!! It slid toward me as I was pinned against a rock cliff thing.... and the car stopped. I busted into tears freaked out and shaking so happy my car stopped. I thought I was going to die. "What happened" so we think.. is that some belt got hot and since we were on a steep slope it came out of gear and rolled backwards cuz the wheels rolled backwards. ANYWAY super scary and the rest of the trip wasn't as exciting but was beautiful. After what it did today through deep troughs of mud/snow on steep slopes it did prove it was the ultimate driving machine. Like I said BMW for life yo!


It is supposed to snow more this week and temperatures will be below freezing so looking forward to white stuff for a while. Not good for the bike training, but just comforting. I feel kind of at peace now that I'm engaged and planning my future with Nate. I still have a love for cycling, but life off the bike has kind of took center stage right now. I didn't think this would happen this soon, but life is short and he is my best friend that I will love forever. Love that Unattached Rider website AND LOVE THEIR KITS! I will consider that as an option if nothing plays out this year. Like I said it really is just about results haha!

Stay Warm!

no direction.. but forward

So change of plans for me. I am not going to be racing for the Vanderkitten club next year. I think its cool, but it doesn't really fit my needs. I'm just a cat 3 wanting to go pro maybe someday and have a lot in front of me. Wouldn't mind racing on a cool team someday, just focused on results really. It really doesn't matter what team I am on right now. I have to save all the money I have to pay for cycling stuff.. like gas to races hotels ETC you know... all those extra things. It all comes down to just loving to ride a bike. I feel old now and I'm only going to get older .. I can feel myself becoming wiser everyday laughing at the most pathetic situations I thought was just the end of the world. 2009 seriously went by fast, but I grew up the most in that year I think. Sometimes I think how I was when I first just fell in love with cycling how crazy insane I was about it.. No patience .. just want to be fast...

I really am surprised that I still love this sport. If it wasn't for my boyfriend I wouldn't be anywhere. He really has taught me most of what I know.. Its a really unique relationship. I think for 2010 I am just going to ride watch and learn. Whatever happens happens..

Fresh Start

Its time to reflect back on 2009 because I don't know if I will have any other time to do it haha! 2010 will be a year of being busy 24/7.2009 was a year of confusion to me. I am proud of 2009 sort of.. I put off things that needed to be attended to which made other matters much worse.. and I didn't jump to certain opportunities that I REGRET ! I grew up a lot in 09..realized who my real friends were and things don't just happen. I got a few new things like a job, bike, and a BMW.. which is awesome, but really a lot things are just up in the air for me to figure out in 2010. I'm 22 now and still have goals I would like to achieve big and small.. just don't know whats going to happen really. SO like I said things don't just happen you have to make it happen, but I also think the opposite sometimes that things do happen that are meant to happen. SOOOOO anyway I have decided to spend more time with the main man upstairs and see what he has got planned for me. I feel like that is the only way to live life. Live and Learn and of course ride your Bicycle! I welcome 2010 with a glass of wine and hope for a better year for not only myself, but for anybody! Happy New Year everybody :)

Cheers

AWesome Christmas!

So I bought a BMW X3 3.0i in blue :) ! ITs really fun driving thats for sure! BMW FOR LIFE !


SO gonna be some serious style showing up to the races next season. NO MORE bikes crammed on the back of an itty bitty sunfire full of stinky racing cyclists. NO MORE huge dogs crammed in my 2 door sufire coupe S. NOT COOL! NOW COOL! Like never in the world would think I could drive a vehicle at this caliber. Its ridiculously tricked out to the max.. I'm in love.... My bike will be happier too!

I have been having a lot of crap thrown at me lately, not literally.. BUT I am learning a lot! This BMW is really helping me not even notice a lot of stuff thats been going on in front of me that really doesn't matter that I really can't even discuss to the public.. ANYWAY everything is good I have a hair appointment in like less than an hour to refresh my blonde hair.

Christmas shopping is in full swing! YAY ! thanks for reading! AG!

Life NOW @ 22

Honestly I still feel like I'm twenty one years old haha! I had a wonderful birthday! My boyfriend, Nate, took me shopping for two days! I bought ridiculous shoes.. that made me 4 inches taller them him HA! 5 1/4" = broken NECK! ANyway love the risk.. and had a blast wearing them the last night of being 21 !

I might be getting a new friend soon for my new over the hill lifestyle for Christmas from my very special speedy gonzalas BF, Natello. Its a he cuz he is BLUE and the ultimate driving machine! Anyway its a BMW X3 3.0i SAV ! Tricked out butt warmers and lots of buttons with AWD.


Its very cold now.. too cold.. I'm trying to think warm thoughts... thats why I need a bmw with heated seats.. after a cold ride ... YEEESSSS!

I have driven my sunfire for a while, and its my first car ever. I will miss it for sure, but its time to upgrade my car so at least its more than my bike. BHAHA! Ridiculous!

Holidays are wonderful.. lots of money being SPENT$$$$$$$ And lots of lbs to gain!!!!!!! but love my fam and Nate's family ! gonna be some good food and good memories this year for sure!

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

In Training

I have big plans for the 2010 season and I am starting early. Your thinking.. BURN OUT FOR SURE! No. After not being able to race like I wanted to due to an injury I had two years I have a lot of pent up racing excitement haha! Went to the doctor again.. and found out from X-RAYS $$$$ that I have a shoulder injury. I either have impinged nerves pretty sure I said that wrong anyway.. or a tear(s) in my left shoulder rotator cuff. This all might have to come to a MRI and most likely surgery sometime.. BUT FOR NOW .. that I know I am ok and its not my back/neck.. I am ready to continue forward into my cycling journey without that haning on my shoulders..even though its in my shoulder.. ANYWAY!! In a good mood now that I am not really in bad shape. And that my birthday is very soon and I GET STUFF! WOOT!

I have lots of personal goals for the season... which I think are realistic. SO I am now officially saying that 2010 season has started TODAY. :)

Bare Everything

I'm turning 22 in 10 days! November 30 th is my BDAY and I'm more excited than my 21st birthday.. DUNO WHY! I just feel more mature I guess.. FEeling the 20s I guess! I can't believe I started cycling when I was 19 ! Doesn't seem that long ago really..

I took time off the bike.. pretty much the whole month of November.. Did some other things like Canoeing/hiking/Camping. And yesterday it hit me that it was time to get ready for 2010 season. I have to go to the doctor though because having some more pain in my ribs.. Will let you know what goes down with that. I just hope its a simple fix and I go on with my life.

I have learned a lot of life lessons these past couple of months. Everything seems to go the right direction when you are true to yourself. Its really easy to get caught up in what you could have or what you want. Spending some time away from civilization and out in the outdoors changes me and brings me back down to reality.

I haven't canoed in like years so when the first set of rapids came I screamed and cried like a baby.. and soon realized how fun it is haha! Life is like a river really.. you have to go with the current or you will go nowhere or worse tip. Even though you might go with the current you must angle yourself in the right direction before rapids or you will fly out of the current into a tree/rock.. etc or flip again. Life is very similar to this.. always throwing obstacles at you even if you are on the right track. To enjoy it you must overcome. As I floated down the river with the ice cold water rushing beside me, I watched birds glide above me. Bald eagles come to arkansas this time of the year and they were just arriving and settling into their new home for the winter. I never looked at a bald eagle so closely before in my life. I understand why now they are our bird of the united states. So noble and proud and just HUGE with a straight wingspand that is amazing. They look extremely smart too! Anyway saw lots of bald eagles and hawks. They all have their own style and grace. We headed on the left side of this island in the Buffalo River and there was a young deer that raised her head up and just stared at us watching us float down the river. Even Gemma, Nate's dog, was quiet as we floated slowly past each other staring into each others eyes amazed by how different we were. The deer never ran away or snorted at us, she just watched curiously as if she had never seen a canoe before and went on eating on green grass that was unusual this time of the year. The Buffalo River as you can tell is my favorite spot to go and have fun. Its like another world with its massive limestone bluffs and secrets behind every bend. I learn a lot from nature and put that to everyday life.

The trees are bare right now and very dull, but I look at it as a fresh start. This all inspired to start trainging yesterday as my arms and legs were bare from arm warmers and other layers.. I could obviously could tell I was off the bike, but getting back into the swing of things for sure.

Thanksgiving is next week! Holidays are always nice with plenty of food.. Family! LOVE! Dogs! Its a very peaceful time of year for me right now. I'm excited about 2010 in my White and Pink VK kit, but really enjoying this down time with family and being in the outdoors.

I just can't believe what I have seen this year and the eyes I stared into.. How wild our world is... I think humans have our set ways but we crave a bit of wild too. This world is beautiful. Anyway I gotta go to work SO I can have money FOR GAS etc. HAHA! Hope everybody has a WONDERFUL fullfilling thanksgiving ! Gobble Gobble :)

solo

Took a little spin yesterday solo. I noticed now since I have a lot of time to myself I have of course a lot more time to think about things. At my job I have 6 hours to myself really.. I'm having a lottttt of ALONE TIME...

Which is probably a good thing..

I think the most while riding my bike by myself though.. I don't even really think of riding.. it just comes natural. Had an awesome tailwind on one of my fav roads to ride hit the corners 30 mph.. :) really was beautiful yesterday.. it has been beautiful lately just rainy or sunny for me.. I have noticed I am laughing more too..

I would like to announce also that I am off of my anxiety medicine. ALL THE WAY OFF! It took over a year to get off it after being on it for 6 years. I feel like I am over a lot of shit.. and moved on in my life.. enjyoing it.. kind of free.

The leaves are falling now.. winter is around the corner. I will be 22 next month.. crazy to me.. I was 19 when I started cycling.. just insane to me. Just a reminder to live laugh and love while you can..

Its not your typical day to take a stroll but I just might with Sophy.. Nothing feels more real than being in the outdoors. I have been hiking a lot lately.. MY SECOND fav thing to do after cycling. After a hard ride I like to take a hike by the buffalo river the next day. It was the first National River to be designated in the United States. It changes color in the winter to a light green blue... my favorite spot in arkansas by far.. I think sometimes wouldn't be cool to live in colorado.. or idaho..wyoming or somewhere so beautiful.. but nothing is like the boston mountains.. more like rolling hills.. with bluffs rivers and interesting rock formations.. its just my home.. can't leave it.

Anyway I'm heading out before it storms.. felt kind of bloggy so there ya go :)

2010 is gonna be hotttttT

Just got info on Vanderkitten Club 2010... ANd.............. ITS GONNA BE HOTT! Like new sexy clothing.. can't wait to race in it! I hate that Liz is not a Vanderkitten anymore.. she inpsired me and still a big fan, but I realized that it was me that got across the finish line first.. the vk kit/liz/vanderkitten didn't get me across it first.. it was me and my legs haha.. All the other stuff just makes it better. Decided that racing with Vanderkitten Racing is just my style.

Went for a ride today after a long rainy couple of weeks... just beautiful......... Also would like to mention that Nate and I have been dating officially for 2 years now. Love him... He took me out last weekend on leathwood lake and I was literally a couple feet away from wild geese and watched huge bass swim through the clear lake water.. paddled through lily pads and walked across a 90 year old hand carved limestone dam. Really was beautiful with the fall colors...good place..

FOR ALL THE WOMEN out there I'm a beauty junkie... I have a new obsession.. other than victoria secret.. I love sephora................... and I love skin products from OLE HENRIKSON . My fav products is invigorating night gel, body sleek lotion, muscles comfort, sheer transformation face moisturizer. Its all natural and organic.... speaking of organic.. I also like the new bare minerals matte foundation.. ITS BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL Foundation.. really good for oily skin... like mine.. Anyway just thought I would through that out there... cuz I have really been impressed..



Its getting cold.. seasons are changing.. blah blah blahhh but I'm getting out there and staying in shape... I want to represent vanderkitten the best I can.. plus of course get results for myself.. and prove that I was meant to be on bike.

Anyway .. going to kick ass right now... haha in my dreams that is .. goodnight :)

Follow your heart and hold your line

Lot of things have come upon me lately. I wanted to get rid of Sophy to do whats right for Sophy.. I have realized that I have a bond with Sophy and she has one with me. EVEN though she is SOoo ridiculous sometimes.. After Sarg died and Sophy came into my life.. she has a purpose just like Sarg did. I think that everything happens for a reason.. and Sophy is meant to be in my life as my dog. I have decided to not give up on her and work on her issues.. cuz she doesn't ever give up on me.

This has taught me an important lesson in life, which is obvious.. but really is often ignored.. but TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART! So easy to give up on something.. such an easy way to just run away something that is hard to handle. Easy just seems weak to me.. you just gotta stand your ground.. and not back down on whatever you believe or feel in your heart.

I feel that I was the first person who gave Sophy a chance and she loves me and I owe it to her to be responsible and give her all the love I have the rest of her life. Also what inspired me was a book.. that is called Merle's Door. A book about a man finding a lab mix dog in the wild that he took into his life. Its not just about Sophy, me, or the book. It is about following what you know whats right.

I recently read Liz Hatch's blog post on cyclingnews, and she annouced that she is no longer with Vanderkitten. I don't know what exactly happened and even if I did I don't think would even matter.. Liz and Vanderkitten means a lot to me cuz Liz and others on Vanderkitten are super strong women obviously physically, but mainly mentally strong. I am inspired by a lot with my cycling.. but something about them draws me to them. I feel like Vanderkitten represents so much more than an average team. They follow what feels right.. but something has happened and I am only a fan and have been for a while, but I feel like this is a crucial period for Vanderkitten not having Liz on the team.. and Liz not a Vanderkitten. Really seems not right to me.. but maybe it is meant to be. I don't know.. but it is really heart breaking to me. I hope both of their futures are great though! Whatever might happen! Hope everybody kicks A$$ no matter what :)

Sometimes.. its not about two wheels at all..Its about living and loving life to the fullest possible.. don't waste it.

Hope everybody has a wonderful day.. night... morning.. wherever you might be.. take care

as for me I am going to snuggle with Sophy in my bed and look forward to a wonderful tomorrow

good night :)

Everything is changing

My season is over. The season is changing... I'm getting rid of Sophy.. cuz she is going to get hurt living here with my horses and mules.. she deserves a better home..so I put her up on my work bulliten board to give away for free. I don't want money... I saved her from the pound and from being put down and put some meat on her bones. She will just fit well more into a family with kids. Now that this is going on I will be able to get a german shepherd again. Not just any german shepherd.. A sister of Sarg, my old german shepherd. Even though it will not be Sarg .. my life feels complete with a shepherd by my side. I have grown up with german shepherds. I don't have any brothers and sisters so I would play with german shepherds instead. They just have a special place in my heart. They are the closest dog that is related to the grey wolf. Anyway that is what is going to happen.. I feel bad about getting sophy and having to do this.. but then again I don't cuz I saved her from being put down.. so I saved a life in the end.

Vanderkitten kit is so hot for 2010. Made by Capoforma, it has more white on it and stands out more than EVER. Can't wait to sport the kit as a cat 3 next year!

I applied for mercy health insurance and was declined... hopefully I can get full time at my job so I can be covered.... and not have to deal with insurance companies ... God has got my back so I am not letting it bring me down. I can only do what I can do.

I read this thing in an office I was cleaning.. I think about it every now and then.. especially right now since there are so many things on my mind I almost forget to enjoy that I am on this earth.. thought you would enjoy it too.

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
And today?
Today is a gift.
Thats why we call it the present.

Big Dam Bridge 100 2009

So I did it. Jordan and me finished! It was a beautiful day! A little windy ... but we pushed through!! There was some hills thats for sure wasn't all flat. I was doing just fine until mile 60.. I started feeling a little bad.. And then of course Nate explained to me about bad patches and that you need to ride through them.. so I started singing... haha! I started singing Stray Cat Strut by Stray Cats which is the first song on this playlist now. After I sang that over and over to mile 75 I FELT GREAT.. in fact.. about mile 80 when there was some hills.. I got a little crazy and attacked everybody up the hills. The people were seriously suffering while I was like WOOOHOOO !! ! I kind of felt bad for doing that but very suprised I felt so good at that point. When I read about century rides they would say like mile 80 was going to be bad bla blah blah .. Well for some reason I had energy all the way to the finish and felt like I could of done a sprint finish.. I prented I was mark cavendish trying to hold his position being really stupid.. and then I got a pin and a water and a good job. WOO! Fun century! Going over the bridge that morning was beauitful too. I felt like I could of rode over a 100 miles that day. My body suprises me sometimes. The longer I go the more ridiculous I get.. I'm sore.. but not as bad as I thought I would be. Going to keep up these long ride though.. getting stronger for sure. Thanks to everybody that encouraged me along the way. Telling me I could do it. I did it on 2 hours of sleep too. Maybe hit up some more next year for fun! haha :) For now I guess I will keep up my riding.. buy a mountain bike and hit the trails this fall/winter.

I GOT CAT CLASS
AND I GOT CAT STYLEEE

MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWW LA LA ALALAL

One Hundred Miles

Funny how we think the number 100 is amazing... its a lot of miles sure.. but lets think of a car here.. my car has 74,000 miles.. and ITS kicking my ass.. so 100 miles shouldn't be a big deal...

I'm looking forward it. BIG DAM BRIDGE 100 ! I'm COMING!

Monsoon Rainfall

After my vacation to yellowstone it has been raining.. nonstop. SO I haven't been able to get out like I have wanted to. The century I have been training for is next Saturday. I think I can do it, however, I will be exhausted and probably in pain. I will be doing it with my good friend, Jordan. We will be each others support when we get all like.. ok I duno.. if I can finish this..

Been putting in some long rides though and can seriously tell its helping .. It is raining like nonstop .. a green swirly thing is sitting in the center of Arkansas~ CRAAzzZZzzzZy! Anyway cycling is good.. HONESTLY ready for winter and all the offseason stuff. Really had a good cycling season. Crazy that fall is 5 days away. SO READY FOR IT.. for REAL! BUt soon.. I will be like omgee.. its been cold like forever.. but anyway love the weather staying dry.. my bike too. :)

Training & a Trip to the Tetons/Yellowstone

It has been a bit of a gap since I last posted.. I finally feel like I can sit down and post even though its midnight. This week was a very fast week due to labor day this monday.. Took a little vacation to the Tetons/Yellowstone. Let me tell you.. I thought at first.. I was going to get bored or something.. that I wasn't going to be as impressed. Well .. I was blown away. When I arrived in Jackson, wyoming.. and turned a corner to face the massive jagged Teton Mountains.. All I said was WOW!! I looked at them in pics and just being there was another experience! Well Nate and I stopped to take some pics and this lady came up with her dog.. she had a huge backpack and smelled like woods.. she said something to me and then asked if we could give her a ride to Jenny Lake, which was about 2 miles away.. ANYWAY.. I looked at Nate like.. is she crazy? ( I never give anybody a ride I don't know ) BUT she explained herself and Nate asked her questions to test her and stuff and she said her camp was destroyed by a grizzly bear that it came over her head and didn't do anything but destroy her camp. So she needed a ride to report it....before it got dark.. SO we gave her a ride with her dog. I kept my eyes on her the whole time.. as she talked here and there... We got there and Nate shoved some waters in her back and some food and she went off on her merry way. Glad she wasn't crazy and VERY glad we helped her and her little dog too.

I got a ride planned in less than 5 hours.. I haven't been on my bike for a week so I am riding no matter what tomorrow haha! I am waiting for my comforter to dry so I can sleep with some covers too.. so ANYWAY....

Stayed in the tetons watched the sun fall behind the tetons.. BEAUTIFUL.. also when we arrived at the park we saw two moose in a creek.. people flocked to that area and we kept driving on cuz we knew we only had a short time to really enjoy that mountains. When we were done with the tetons we continued our drive through the park AT NIGHT! NOT THE GREATEST TIME TO DRIVE.. well I was nervous to see an animal walk in front of our BIG TANK SUV NISSAN ARMADA.. I kind of liked it though.. ANYWAY of course..... of COURSE... there was A BIG FRIGGIN BULL MOOSE AS BIG AS OUR VEHICLE OR BIGGER take its sweet time to cross the road! OMG that was the biggest animal EVER! Nate didn't see it due to the other oncoming car blinding us with its lights! OMG HUGE well it got out of the way and we went on without anymore animals. WE finally found our hotel and had to walk in the dark to the nearest resturaunt to get some lame pizza.. WELL I was pissy and fell asleep.

DAY 2 of vacation. Woke up very happy knowing I was not in my regular routine of work work work.. Went down to the same resturaunt that we ate at for dinner the night before. OMG the view from it was AWESOME sitting right one yellowstone lake.... we had a breakfast buffet and watched ducks and seagulls with awesome mountains behind the lake as a backdrop.. Almost didn't want to leave.
BUT WE DID right before we got into the car to hit the geysers... we heard elk bugling and stuff.. pretty sweet.. WELL we got at west thumb geyser basin and I checked out all the pools of hot stuff. REALLy cool cuz they were all colorful and bubbly and STINKY.. that wasn't so cool.. amazing how they don't have them protected a little better.. I duno how they even got the boardwalk built around them.. I mean you can just fall into one .. anyway pretty sweet.

Then I went to the bigger badder geysers like BADASS OLD FAITHFUL! AS I approached the real geyser area.. there was this HUGE BISON just walking beside the road.. and it blew my mind for some reason....... 2000 lb animal just roaming FREE FREAKING SWEET! well.. Faithful went off right when I showed up then this even BIGGER one Beehive went off and sprayed a bunch of people. I went across the continental divide like two times.. I kind of enjoy being at a higher elevation.. I DUNO WHY!

So we head into Hayden valley.. lots of bison and a couple of wolves and lots of people amazed by seeing the wolves as specs.. it was pretty cool. THANK goodness we had a high powered scope.. we wanted to get up super early to go to hayden valley but slep in due to the exhausting trip there. WELL THEN WE headed on to Lamar Valley later in the evening and we saw some pronghorn!!! SOME more bison. NO wolves though ... it got later and we headed to Gardiner to the Travel Lodge. They messed up something and upgraded us to a suite. We were good with that. We walked to the nearest food place ordered a pizza and had some beers.. root beers that is. We ate a pizza and we were OUT.


DAY 3 we got up at 4 and got packed and headed to Lamar Valley for some wolf watching. Well it was cold and we searched for animals.. saw some bison and then I spotted a black thing and found out it was a wolf.. so we freaked out and got our crap out to look at it. When we got the scope on it we noticed it was just looking at us as we were looking at it.. then it got up and started heading towards the road to cross to look for the rest of the pack. well we hiked up a side of this steep hill to get a better view of the valley with all these other people with their high powered scopes.. well we got next to these people who had a wolf detecter thingy to recieve a signal from their collars. Well me and Nate were talking and this older lady was like can you stop talking cuz we can't hear the wolves howling over your talking.. WELL I was like ok and just stood there quiet thinking well dang... well these people that told us to stop talking was talking like real loud well Nate was looking into the valley with his high powered scope as I was looking up the ridget behind us where nobody was looking with these regular binoculars.. ha.... WELL I was just being stupid looking that way and then this BIG BLACK WOLF comes into my view looking down on all the people with their backs turned. Well I was like OMG WOLF ! Nate and I got a great view of it while the other people who thought they were so great spotting wolves were talking away and never saw it. We we were pleased with the morning view and got ready to go on a good hike. Well we decided to hike up Mt. Washburn.. 3 miles up and down. GRIZZLY COUNTRY.. kind of freaked me out knowing I could be some bear's lunch.
Well I had this little voice in the back of my head saying DO IT! and So I was off up up up up and up.. it was very steep the whole way up to the top.. no level sections.. and we even saw 5 bighorn sheep!!! Some chipmunks and marmots.. got to the top.. the wind was blowing so hard.. like 60 to 70 mph gusts ... there was a cold front coming through right when we were heading up to the top. I almost fell mutiple times freezing.. I was kind of scared. There was a firetower you could go in and we ate a snack there and of course there was a chipmunk there to eat everybody crumbs!! It got in my backpack and tried to run up my leg! CRAZY THING! Well at the top 10,243 ft. We had 360 Degrees of the park and it pointed out the caldera of the super volcano we were on top of.. It BLEW MY MIND! Kind of scary as well.. but that is what makes the park so beautiful.. really.
We found out that a grizzly crossed the trail not too far before us.. and that a park ranger had to get the bear spray to get it to go away.. well after hearing that I wanted to get down the mountain as fast as I could.. so we headed down.
We saw three marmots and some birds, and just awesome views!! NO BEARS! YAY! I was pretty excited I made it.. kind of inspired me to hike up more mountains. I never really got why people want to climb up a mountain. Its an awesome feeling.. pushing your body to the limit .. kind of like cycling.. Well this is my new hobbie
and I am going to the Smoky Mountains this October to get some more hiking in during the rich fall colors of the south. SO ANYWAY we headed to hayden valley again for an evening view of the animals.. we saw two wolves again and some bison. Well a lot of people who come to yellowstone bring regular binoculars.. which ins't bad, but you really need a high power scoped to see animals like wolves well.. people with the high powered scopes were like COOL WOLVES why the people with regular binoculars were like WHERE?! So Nate and I let all the people look through our scope to see the wolves.. most were foreign and I think it was more entertaining to see the peoples faces when they saw their first wolves of yellowstone. Well we let that go on for about two hours and had some lunch at old faithful.. we waited in the night for faithful to erupt one last time. Had a coyote pass in front of me on faithful as the sun went down and we decided to head out of the park to idaho falls so we can get some sleep before our flight out.....

AS we headed out of the park we were kind of sad. We wanted more! MORE! We said by to the park as we exited.... and 50 ft from the park.. there was west yellowstone buildings and everything!! Seemed a little weird being around buidlings and in a town after being in the park.. Just nice to be in another world with the wild animals doing their thing. We headed back and I went to work that night sore as hell and slept the next day pretty much till work the next day! I am finally ok now after the trip.. haha .. the trip was great.. anybody who has NOT gone to yellowstone really should.. awesome can't wait to go BACK!

Well my training is going ok... been getting in some long rides with Jordan. The last long ride we did I got stung by a bee on my tongue while riding. I KNOW DOn't ride with your MOUTH Open.. heard that a million times.. well it hurt and I am ok.

I have a shorter ride planned tomorrow.. and I don't think I will feel that out of shape after a short trip to yellowstone. HOWEVER I will be tired from staying up.. my comforter is dry now and warm so I am hitting the hay!

Learn from the BEST

Just read an interview that was with Robbie McEwen www.mcewenrobbie.com and I learned a little from it.. I didn't know he started racing at age 18 and turned pro at 23! Such an inspiration to me.. even when I first started getting into cycling he has been my favorite pro cyclist ever. I think he is one of the best too! Even if he is getting older.. he is only getting better though with all the knowledge he has aquired over the racing years. Not always the strongest man wins.. even though I think he is one of the strongest considering what he has gone through and overcome. He is famous, but he still takes the time to comment a message to me on facebook. ANd me I am just a cyclist in arkansas. I am not a pro yet or anything I just live on dreams and hope.. and of course my bike. Really appreciate people like Robbie in the world.

No Mountain lions in Arkansas?

Rolled out of bed this morning to go for a ride with my buddy Jordan... talked about this and that.. got on hwy 206 and was still talking right away.. being very loud probably... and something caught my eye................ THought it was a dog coming at us so I was about to tell Jordan... but realized it wasn't a dog... it took me a second to figure it out but it was cat.. that was HUGE and tan... Then I realized I saw a mountain lion. It about 50 yards away maybe not even that super close..... and it ran out in a mowed yard.. there was woods behind this house's yard, but it didn't run into the woods.. no it ran behind their house and wasn't scared.. I was so shocked all I could think of is to turn around and go downhill.. fast......so we did... I had goosebumps and chills pretty much 10 min after that.. Regardless if it was wild or released or whatever it WAS a mountain lion and it was too close for comfort... lots of cyclist ride that road all the time.. and it needs to be reported. IT was attracted to our movement.. and thank goodness it didn't get us. It was as big as Jordan's bike... It was pretty, but I was just scared ....... I'm still kind of freaked out from it... Lots of people here if I was to tell them this they wouldn't believe me.. I don't know why the game and fish or anybody would just absolutly say there are no wild mountain lions in arkansas.. Arkansas is very wooded and wild animals will travel long distances.. They can see lines of state borders... they say that they died out by poeple hunting them, but what I saw today it doesn't matter I think it is a threat to the area cuz it wasn't a wooded area it was in area where people live kind of close together with animals. Anyway... always believed that they were here from seeing tracks at a spring that is on our property, but now I have seen one.. and doesn't matter what anybody tells me.. that was a wild animal I encoutered and it was pretty to see, but again dangerous to be that close to people and out in the open like that.

Friday. Thank YOU!

Work work work... and play play PLAY! Training is going well. I think I'm getting more fit though.. cuz my job requires a lot of walking and sometimes with a 30 lb vaccum on my back. haha. Was working yesterday and had a guy ask for my number .. didn't know his name.. kind of shocked me at first I was like yea.. and then I was like oh wait I have a boyfriend...... I felt horrible..poor guy hopefully he gets a hottie someday. WAS a LONG week this week to me.. my parents left for vacation for a week 1/2 so I must hold the fort down. No partys and stuff.. well maybe a few. haha j/k... getting a haircut today.. THANK GOODNESS!! Its like a jungle up there. The season is coming to a close .. really just felt like spring not too long ago.. summer is really too short.. STILL HOT THOUGH! I am going to yellowstone coming up labor day weekend.. I'm going freeze my booty off.

I don't want to overtrain next season but I'm going to train hard. I'm saving my money gonna race race race... Like to also state that to anybody who doesn't like my lifestyle of working and racing all the time.. can suck it cuz I don't care if they like it or not... haha going to school is great. And I can still go and do whatever just happy and I think thats what it is about. I don't have a baby right now and a ring on my finger with tons of bills I got a bike and I love to ride. I do not fit in and thats a good thing. I've been different and always will be. People here in my "SMALL" town look at me as a failure when I gave up music as a career.. which yea had my mind set that that is what I was going to do.. and never realized I was meant to do something else. I still got it though and thats all that matters to me.. and great memories. I feel like everything I learned through music and school was more a life lesson than to stablize my life with a career. I love to inspire people and show them they can do something they never thought possible. As you can tell I learned that from very very good people that I was around in my life.

Riding a bike. Sounds so simple... so much more than it is.. I have been riding a little over two years now and I finally feel like I'm getting some legs underneath me.. really have to be patient.. LIKE hard to do thats for sure. I am excited to ride with the big girls next year as a cat 3.. I'm young I can do it. sometimes I feel like my age is slipping away fast.. going to be 22 in 3 months.. so going to enjoy this age with some good training hopefully some good wins as well. Won't hurt me to train in hills this year.. well maybe a little. Getting out on that cold day that might seem a little cold, but push through... I still plan on riding with Vanderkitten in 2010 and representing the brand.

Bought three goldfish ... still duno what to name them haha!

Anyway gotta get a trim.. my hair is ridiculous

Watch and Learn

The past week I have been pretty quiet. It really amazes me how much I have to learn in life and in cycling. And lately have been just watching things and trying to absorb everything I can. You know my favorite animal is the timber wolf or what they call a "gray" wolf. I went to the zoo the weekend before last and Nate couldn't pull me away from the wolf section. Something about them is so majestic. They never looked at me even though they knew I was three feet away from them. They just talked to each other with little wimpers. Watching the people who came by with the zoo uniforms. I think they are so smart its ridiculous. ANYWAY I was looking at the little section on my blog where it shows everybody elses blogs I follow, and one lady that rides had a picture of a couple of wolves in her latest blog. SO I clicked it and it was a cool post!!! She blogged about how wolves are organized in their packs and put that idea towards cycling.

http://propamsknittingcircle.blogspot.com/2009/07/leader-of-pack.html

Great Post. And speaking of animals.. I have decided to take a mini vacation. I have free plane tickets from last year and I have decided to use them while I can. SO I have decided to go to yellowstone national park. I want to see the teton mountains, and also some animals in the wild. I think it will blow my mind when I see what it is like there. I plan on going on labor day weekend.. so pretty pumped about that! Maybe I will see some wolves!... at a "safe" distance!

I started my training for that century in September and its going well, however, the heat suprised me. Jordan and I decided on a ride at 10 and we got so hot.. we almost felt like puking bLAH! Then yesterday I got a flat and didn't have a tube on me or a patch so she had to go get a car to come pick me up. I just stood there next to this pony. It was scared of me and only would come closer if I turned my back. Still never came up to me all the way haha! Its a hot day today as well... ugh.. but its going to storm today I think.

I have been working hard lately and hoping that it shows to my other fellow workers. :) Everyone is so nice.. really lucky to be able to work with nice people...

I have learned lately that even though it may get really hard for a moment... it will let up sometime. That goes with work.. or cycling.... It all pays off too.

Anyway have lots of little things to do today to make the rest of my week go smoothly... hope everyone has a great rest of the week.

oh and I guess I am the... lone wolf :)

*Warning* Miles AHEAD

I have been taking days off the bike now waiting for my friend Jordan to get back from Colorado. Heard she got clipless pedals now :) Will be fun haha! We planned out a 10 week workout thingy for our first century this September. I am excited about that! No competitive stuff ... just trying reach mile 100 and seeing others do the same is cool. Really excited about next season too! Long ways til racing next year... but neat to think about all the new stuff that will happen. I see young women like coryn rivera on proman thats 16 and emilia falin on team columbia that is a year younger than me .. kicking the pro womens butts! I want to be on that level someday. Or who knows race with them.. or whatever.. A friend told me that cat 3 to pro is the biggest jump. I have a lot of work ahead of me.. gotta get better experience in just riding with packs and tactics. Plus work on my attitude in the heat of things.. cuz in the end we are all there to race cuz we love it. Hopefully I will make some friends from the womens field and prove I am strong. Going to train in the hills next year. It will kill me .. but that makes me so much stronger.. maybe I will drop some pounds too and keep my power. SPEAKING OF THAT BRADLEY WIGGINS crazy man.... CRAZY what he did this year in the tour.. so impressive... GEEZ .. anyway he could possibly win the tour someday.

My mother's birthday is this sunday.. so I am going shopping today.. DUNO WHAT TO GET HER! hahah.. whats new..

Life suprises me.. which I'm glad it does cuz then I would be VERY BORED.. but anyway I think I'm mature sometimes then I realize that I can act like 10 sometimes haha ridiculous.. I am pretty young still .. no hurry to grow up really.. just change some things..

WORK. Its going good. Been vacumming with a 25 lb pack on my back for four hours with a 10 min break between. IT IS A WORKOUT geez.. I can tell my back is getting sooooo much stronger which is good. Still better than my last job thats for sure!

Wow..ok .. I'm hungry VERY HUNGRY .. I'm off to start this day! I will be riding a good long ride next monday with J so will let you know how that feels starting up the training for the century Big Dam BRIDGE 100 "BDB". Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week. :) Enjoy this warm weather.. OH and my boyfriend, Nate, crashed yesterday with his bike. A guy pulled out in front of him as he was going downhill 30 mph and he had to swerve crash to miss hitting the car and he slid on his back into a curb...... his legs thank goodness didn't get the impact or he would of had broke ankles, but his BUTT got the impact.. pretty sure he has a broken tailbone and he has road rash ALL ON HIM.. PLUS a good chunk out of his right butt cheek.

WHATS SAD is that the guy that pulled out in front him saw it all and drove off from it. Thank goodness he is ok. We have had our up and downs, but Nate has been there for me since day 1. He is my best friend/boyfriend. When I started the local group ride and was getting dropped he stayed behind.. he was there through all the suffering on the long climbs in the ozarks.. I can't even begin to touch the surface of bragging on him... His character is amazing... Really don't know what I would do without him. HE inspires me... probably the most to become a pro. I like to make him proud with my cycling. He really is a team player when it comes to cycling. He is like the Jens Voigt of cycling. Anyway going to spend the day with him today.

Enjoy these warm days.. cuz we all know they are coming to a close... Summer slips by so fast.. its ridiculous.. but its HOT TODaY! YEE!!

Have to Understand

I have a short temper... not like anger management type temper haha.. but I don't like getting any disrespect... My intentions are good. I was raised with people stabbing me in the back most of my life so I have a wall up and usually take offense if somebody comes onto me the wrong way. I'm getting better, due to very nice people I have met through cycling, but I take no crap from nobody. :)

Also I requested an upgrade to a cat 3 and I am officially a CAT 3 :) I have next years races planned out and I am focused.. this year I was held back due to horrible back problems. One of my comments on my last post mentioned to remove all negative stuff out of my life and stuff.. that is a good idea.. and thats what I have been trying to do by switching jobs which it is a GREAT job.. very nice people. LIKE super nice people! They all ask me how I do in my races... so sweet really.. COULdn't ask for a better job. Its like we are a little family cleaning and stuff haha :)

You know what ... I did beat that randi girl.. but I have to give her this.. she was strong.. who knows we might race on the same team someday you never know or whatever... at least we are both competitive.. I do respect her for that.. really cool to battle it out. I should of raced more classy.. it really is more my style... it was a pleasure to race around the capitol. Good Race. Hope we race again sometime :)

Anyway gotta get ready for work and make some dough for next year :) Cuz I'm Coming!

Can't win them all

Well I didn't win this time... I felt pretty tired during my races just from having a stressful first week on the job. I raced with two other ladies and got last but third.. I didn't get lapped though! We all rotated and took our turns pulling and I ended up just dropping back the final two laps. Then I entered the womens race to get a feel on what its like to race with experienced women that know how to race a bit better and that are stronger. I hung with them for three laps and I realized that was it haha! Then my boyfriend raced and he did well in the 3/4 and the 1/2/3 race ! Then it got late.. we ordered some sushi and then we crashed woke up and realized we were too tired to race sundays race.. which it didn't break my heart considering thats where I got smacked by the cat 3 field last year... So we went to the zoo.. I am backing off racing a bit for the rest of the season to do a century with my friend Jordan.

I got a comment on my "I'm a winner" post ..It is kind of hilarious being a cat 4 womens race.. I probably should ignore people like that.. check it out.


Anyway ... I achieved all my goals this year and going to upgrade and become stronger and faster for next season.. So many great ladies I want to race with.. just got to get good enough to keep up! I have learned a lot being a cat 4 woman cyclist.. but I want to race in bigger fields instead of like one or two other people all the time. It will be hard.. but thats how you get better :)

Get PAid! LETS GO RACE!

I am getting focused thinking about getting another two wins this weekend. I have been feeling strong and doing very well compared to last year. And with this new job and getting my other life in order.. that makes me mentally stronger. Hopefully my legs can do all the talking this weekend. Oh.. and my favorite sushi place is springfield.. can't wait to dig into that! Anyway will let you know how it goes! I'm off!

Off to the QUEEN

Well work is going well. Everyone is super nice and its laid back. I have never worked monday through friday .. so that will be different.. but it will keep me busy. Now that I won the biggest thing I wanted this season.. I guess I will do some more local races here and there. I got hit by that bike last year at Queen City Crits...... SO.. I'm not scared of it.. well sort of.. I just won't stand in the same spot next time :) haha! Well the Queen City Crits are in Springfield, MO on this coming saturday and sunday. My favorite of course is the Saturday one .. being more technical... of course.. AND More of a downtown feel. Plus I didn't get smacked on that one. I am going to try to get a win or two there and then do my upgrade or something. I want to upgrade to a 3 at the end of this season and just race that category to make me stronger.

You know .. I have to brag more about Vanderkitten and Liz Hatch. Showing up to races in the Vanderkitten kit..... is an awesome feeling.. When I'm racing... I know I look damn good... its great :) This wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Liz seeing something in me. I love winning in a VK kit and making her proud. Winning is like me giving back.

I dream big. I have learned to talk with my legs.. its about results... yea I have a firecracker attitude.. but thats what gives me edge. I look at cyclists like Mark Cavendish.. and Robbie McEwen.. and look at there results.. I want to be like that... and I feel like I have that in me. I am not for sure yet really what I am better at.. but from my winnings so far.. I'm a sprinter. I want to beat the best .. but first I must beat my local competition and move up...

But anyway before I dream too big.. and ground myself here.. like I said I'm preparing myself for this weekend for another win or two and then an upgrade is in order...

Watch out.. I'm coming for YOU! yea you...

I'm a WINNER

SO I worked my butt off the night before on my first job and it was great. I was tired went straight to Little rock got there at 2 a.m.. It took me a little bit to go to sleep with a stomach, but soon fell asleep. Woke up 2 hours later.. shoved some food into me.. even though I wasn't hungry at all. I was disgusting.. put my hair in a ponytail put on my kit and headed down to the car. Was pretty quiet to the Capitol and got my bike out .... put my helmet on..... snapped up my shoes... got my vanderkitten water bottle and rolled out onto the course.................. I had some stares.. I just stayed focused on the course.. I LOVED IT. THANKS RHONDA SYLER FOR PUTTING THIS ON!HUGE HIT! anyway.. like I said I loved it.. sharp corners... a little power climb.. some people might think its a climb though :) AND SUper rough at the top... like really rough! There was a lot of those sewer things and just rough road surfaces as well. SO they delayed our race just a bit cuz they needed to block off the course some more. SOOOoo I sat down in my foldy chair alone watching people walk around me.. gathering my thoughts. And all of sudden I started thinking about when I started riding my mountain bike getting into riding again with my dog that passed away, Sarg, running beside me. Then in front of me ... I swear I saw him just sitting in front of me.. wagging his tail with his tongue out like he used to and I blinked and of course he wasn't there... Then I knew.. he was here... with me..

I got my bike took one more lap and lined up. Listened to the rules... READY SET GO.. I clipped in relaxed.. looked at my competition to see who the strongest was. WHO wanted it the most and got behind. turned into the first left corner with a little dip and it had water in it and we all were splashed with water... took another left into the wind as we accelerated downhill...potholes..bumps..you name it.. this was crit racing downtown! Then we hit the first hill I stayed in the big ring the whole time.. got out of the saddle and danced on my bike like I was light as a feather dropping the other girls like flies. Then it was just me and another girl on the first lap... we climbed another short hill and took a right then a left then another left... and then a right to a downhill straight away with a brutal headwind... and then a hard left corner ..that she braked so hard in I almost went down...... I handled it well took a final right turn then a slight uphill to the finish line.. and the race seemed on after the first lap! I stayed on her wheel as she killed herself.... Anytime I tried to come around her she would accelerate so I wouldn't.. so I let her pull. Everytime at the finish she had some fans there telling her for me to pull... then calling out my number and calling me names... no kidding.. was kind of ridiculous being a cat 4 womens race. I just blocked it out and focused on getting the win.... the third lap I could sense she was weak..... She tried to drop me several times.. but failed... I thought in my head with two laps to go.. what was I going to do now.......... where was I going to attack? WHAT was her weakness.. IT was cornering that second to last corner where she about wrecked. SOOOOOOOOO I was on the final lap.. the pace was up considerably with like I said a brutal headwind... tunneling through the buildings and alley ways....... I then went to thinking about my dog Sarg how we would race each other on a straight away in my field how fast we would go. AND thats when we came to the downhill straight away before the corner she was weak at. I shifted up got out of the saddle and went around the corner full blast.. accelerated out of that and turned right sprinting for the finish. I didn't have time to look back to see if she was gaining on me.. I gave it my all and could see the line. I WON. Raised up one of my arms pointing towards the sky........ I won. I couldn't believe and I loved the feeling. I felt like a beast.... I had gapped my competition and she couldn't touch me. Am I bragging... maybe a little, but I felt like I deserved it. I had people notice me and ask me about Vanderkitten. It was an awesome win. I now have the state jersey a gold medal and cool little goodies :) I EVEN GOT free pave tifosi sunglasses! I had people boo me at the finish because there person they were cheering for of course lost. Its a race and I crossed the finish line first. I want to be able to be more of a classy rider someday, but I want to win... always..

I got to the car with my new state jersey on.. and told nate about sarg and everything.. and just started crying.... just knew he was there with me. I won that in memory of him.

This win makes me want to achieve great things. I want it now.. more than ever.. I am going to work harder and continue with my winnings and become something great. This only the start.. I have so much to learn and a long ways to go.. but its about the journey. It still blows my mind I won my first really big win. For other rider out there that just started out.. don't give up keep trying cuz if you want it bad enough you will win or achieve your goals... like I always have said cycling is about overcoming.

My boyfriend Nate is a cat 3 and he was combined with the cat 12 field... and he beat good sprinters in the higher categories with good tactics. HE also won the state crit champ jersey for his field. So we are twinkies ;)

My cousin almost won if it wasn't for a guy hopping the last corner.. he ended up finishing 3rd and won the bronze. Good job guys... but I'm the winner here.. HAHAHAA

Anyway with all this stuff being said.. I'm only a cat 4 and now need to work harder to upgrade and accomplish smaller goals to get to bigger ones... little steps.. thats how I have gotten this far.. GOTTA STAY ON TRACK!

Hope you enjoyed the post "Britt Style" See you on the road.

Good Stuff

So tomorrow is my race at 7:25 in the morning in front of the Arkansas State Capitol. Good news is that I got a call yesterday that I got my job!!! Woot! The catch is ... that I go in today at 3 p.m. and work for 8 hours. Then I leave for little rock cuz I already booked a hotel that night.. so sleep for me will be limited. I went ahead and decided to work cuz you don't tell your boss that just hired you.. that you can't work right off the bat. I want a good impression so I am going to suffer a bit at tomorrows race. It will kind of suck.. but I have a big drive to win.. so we will see how far that will take me. Getting this job is very good for me though. Fedex is the best company to work for in this town. It will support my cycling.. even my boss really likes that I ride. I think I really deserve this position cuz I busted my butt at my other job dealing with stuff you usually deal with jobs, but also with stuff that was very uncalled for as we all know this. hehe :) Yesterday I dropped off Nate at the group ride and everyone was asking why I wasn't in my lycra gear! AND I was like well resting up cuz I got a race... AND I got to work tomorrow at my new job at FEDEX. Yea I was totally bragging :) And of course I love to see a certain someones mouth drop. Tomorrow I am going to try to rock it. I don't know how I really will perform with this dang swollen knee and then standing on it for 8 hours.. but I think everything will be cool. It could be a lot worse! Seriously ... really worse. Everything is going as planned though....

I have heard from lots of people lately that you can't have a full time job and become a pro cyclist.. well I totally disagree... I think it actually keeps you more on a schedule and you make more money for it... obviously you have to pick a job that works well cuz even a part time job and screw up your cycling as it did mine a little bit. ANYWAY plus with a full time job.. most of the races are on weekends.. take a vacation day .. personal.. or a sick day if you need a day to add on to the weekend for the races.. anyway... my point here is very proven. no excuses :)

Heinrich Haussler's finish today in Stage 13 Tour de France was so great. He cried out of joy of winning... and I must admit it was very emotional and I cried as well. I usually don't cry even in movies.. I did cry while watching Marley & Me though..

Well I have lots to do today before I leave for work to prepare for the race. I hope everyone is enjoying their weather.. and getting out! Hope everyone has a nice weekend! I will post about the race and of course first day of the job :) haha! TIME TO KICK SOME ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! VK~~~~

Too bad we can't hear time

Today is a quiet day. I am just sitting here watching the trees outside sway back and forth with no cloud in the sky. I have a couple of days until my race. These kind of days really let me think and relax before the storm. I have a ride later today with Jordan. We have decided to make a goal and finish our first century ride. It is the Big Dam Bridge 100 in Little Rock, Arkansas on September 26th. So last night I stayed up and planned out a 10 week plan for her and I to follow to be prepared for the mileage. Yea.. its not a race, but I believe that I need to become a rider first before I become a racer. So I think doing this will not only build my base as a cyclist, but it will make me understand how I function. It will be pushing me to my limits... and I think I am ready for that. Seems like time has come to a stand still right now, but as soon as I type this .. I will be standing at the start line with the Capitol at my back wondering how I will perform.

HEART OF CYCLING

Seems like when the Tour starts its the middle of the season :) I am also following Liz Hatch in the GIRO DONNE! Womens giro.. SHE IS SO KICK ASS! LOVE HER! She even made a blog post on cyclingnews.com go check that out. I hope to one day be able do the womens giro and tour de france one day :) ANYWAY Todays stage in the tour was very interesting with the yellow not being on contador or lance's back. First real mountain stage today. I duno if I am a climber yet.. but I sure do love watching haha! I haven't heard anything about the job I have interviewed for... but I heard good news that the lady is out for a couple of days so... she might contact me next week. I hope so.. it will be nice to work for a well known company and get paid to get really cool euro bike stuff! SO I haven't lost hope yet. I rode 50 miles this past monday with my friend Jordan. I felt very good that day and even met up with an old school friend that started riding. I rode the next day on the group ride.. and didn't have ANYTHING IN MY LEGS.. no suprise.. that was a real big mistake. I rode kind of angry during that ride cuz somebody.. not naming her name was flirting with my boyfriend.... big time.. asking where he LIVED.. ugh.. I am supportive of women cycling, but not of women who just go out and ride for social SLUTTY purposes EW! ANYWAY enough about that crap gross. SO I rode up to where I used to live before my parents got divorced and it bothered me really bad and had to quit the ride. Just was really emotional that day. Went camping the next day on the buffalo river and end up having my left leg get really really SORE! SO I took a couple of days off and its almost healed now.

You know sometimes stupid things get to me.. it really sucks sometimes.. my mom let me know something which was cool while we were sitting at the chinese resturaunt drive thru.. hehe.. that when people try to bring you down.. you have to reflect right back how you handle the situation with your character.. like not bother you and stuff. CAn't really remember how she said it.. but it was cool! ANYWAY it hit me even though I already knew that inside.. and I am not letting stupid things get to me like that anymore! Cuz seriously I could possibly go pro someday and ride in a big womens tour or something who knows.. No need to have some woman bring me down with stupidity. JUST RIDE YOUR DANG BIKE :)

And if I get this job I will not be able to go on the local group rides anymore.. which is probably a good thing cuz I can focus on what I need to do more and stuff. I know how hard I need to go to race.. and get faster.. just takes time :)

SO I might go for a light spin if it doesn't rain tomorrow.. just to see how my leg is doing.. I am going for the State Jersey not this weekend but next weekend. I'm foaming at the mouth to win another win :) hehe no rabies :D or wait that could be my strategy.. don't get close to her.. she has rabies haha and I WILL WIN!

SOOOOOO My friend ZACH mentioned me in his blog to follow me cuz I'm a winner.. well.. he is a winner too!!!! follow his blog !! http://zach-cyclist.blogspot.com/2009/07/jbn-criterium-race.html cool kid :)

I am taking it easy.. realizing I have a lot going for me and that everything is gonna be ok... its only going to get better from here.

If I get this job there are so many things I want.. its ridiculous........................................ but don't we all want.. EVERYTHING :)

My car still works so I think I should just keep driving the wheels off of it. I need a new bike rack.. might get that.. but I have one.. kind of sucks though might get a new one. BUT I kind of want to move out as well.... just cuz it will be indepent freedom. BUT HAVE TO WAIT to see if I get the job cuz.. yea.. got to wait !

I'm starving.

I guess I will throw some short hard workouts here and there to keep that suffer feeling in me but back off so I have some BRITTNEY POWER FOR THE RACE! .. haa... anyway I'm ready to rip everyones legs off.. Life is good. You know lance and contador are going for yellow and stuff but what about LEVI he totally crashed and finished with the front group! WHAT A GUY! anyway.. would be even cooler to see him win :) LEVISTRONG!

Anyway I feel like something is going to change... we will see.. I really hope I win.. cuz if so it will just top off the season for me and boost my confidence. IF NOT I will only try harder .. keep my head up ... I might go race the gateway cup this year.. AND MIGHT go watch womens crit in missouri.. BUT duno if Tour of Missouri is a go.. THEY froze their funds... we will see how that will unfold. I feel like I have a future in cycling. I really am impressed with my drive sometimes cuz I have never been so driven to do something really in my LIFE.. Maybe if I get this job I can get a coach :) anyway have to wait to see how that happens.................................... like I said I'm starving.. time to feed my quadrisurous rex hehe !

haha.. yea wish I was eating this ....