Meghan Kane

A Way Out

2011-04-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

All people need an out... Some way to keep your mind off the things you are going through, or just a stress reliever. I kept telling myself that racing was my way out... but it really isn’t. I don’t get my feelings out racing. Downhilling. Thats where I express my feelings. Thats where I forget everything in my life and just go for it. No not the climbing- there is too much thinking for me there, I don’t get a rush from that. Going down on the other hand provides a thrilling way to just not think about anything.
I think about the other things in my life that I like to do- draw, paint, color (haha so dumb), clean, sing, and play the piano. A lot of those things I get frustrated doing. I am unfortunately somewhat of a perfectionist... not so much that but I think I may have some form of OCD- which I may have realized when I had a mental break down over my clothes facing the wrong way and being in the wrong order in my closet. It seems silly but it stresses me out. This is why some of the things I do, that I supposedly LOVE to do, such as drawing, sometimes stress me out even more. I don’t want that... I don’t need that. So I love to draw, but I need to find something else.
With me being injured and on top of that going back to my parents house which is covered in snow, I have no downhilling to keep me sane. My injury preventing riding is probably half of the reason I went complete stress the last month of school. Now I don’t have school, or any friends at the moment to keep me occupied. I need that little thing to do. I’ve decided my best bet is singing and playing piano- even though I gave up piano a while ago, I get lost in it. Maybe I’ll restart my youtube account and just get myself out there. I’m not saying I can sing or play... but just that I need some sort of something. I feel bad I snap at the people I love when I’m really just depressed that I have not done anything in so long. So now it begins. My return to the ever skeptical world of music. And eventually cycling, when this hell hole place gets rid of the snow. In the meantime, hopefully my life turns itself around and I keep the people I love close.
On a side note- Writing in this blog has seemed stupid to me most of the time. I think its because I’m writing out my actions and what I am doing rather than my feelings. Hence the reason I stopped writing... it was boring writing about going to races and warming up and racing the race and what place and blah blah blah... anyways.... from now on I’m just going to say what I’m feeling. Whenever, wherever... Don’t care if people want to know how my racing or whatever is going. Read what I write and if you don’t like it don’t read it. That is all.

Germany Day 16, 17, & 18

2010-06-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

Day 16- Preride!
The group went out to the course today. It was a mix of good and bad. The climb was steep right off the start, after a short section through some grass.
It was a pretty long climb, but nothing compared to home, and was not as steep as Champery! At the top of the climb, it turned to sweet single-track. I was in the lead so I didn’t think twice when we came to the descent. I rode down to the bottom, feeling a little sketched out but not too worried. Alicia came right on my tail, followed bye Linnea. Unfortunately we looked up and saw that Ellie had crashed, and it looked pretty bad. We waited until she was able to walk down to where we were. Her ankle was pretty messed up and she was COVERED in mud!
Luckily nothing was too bad but the rest of the girls were a little worried about the descent! :( We let Ellie go down and rode the rest of the course. There were no more intense descents...to my disappointment :), but it was still some epic single-track riding.
After doing two laps on course, we rode down to the town of Albstadt to get some lunch. Linnea, Wesley and I went to a little pizza place while the others went to find money. We walked up to the counter and the man immediately knew we were Americans. He started babbling about the food but none of us knew what was going on. It was very overwhelming because I could not understand the slightest word of German! Maybe I should use that Rosseta Stone we bought... :D
After lunch we took a shopping day- I was trying so hard to find something with a German flag on it, but I could not find anything! It was so disappointing! Finally Ellen and I went on a mad hunt for something I could buy- we found some flip flops in the little boys section at a store so I bought them. Ellen and I sat dumbfounded as the checkout lady talked to us non stop. NO idea what she was saying. Oh well :)- Gino’s race tomorrow!
Day 17- Preride again
Today was Gino’s race. We all went out to preride the course, as the groups in this race took a different one. I am starting to feel a little sick but hopefully it gets better by race day! We watched the little kids race, which was really cool- they had so many participants. Connie took us to this stand that was selling recycled items, made from TIRES! SO awesome. She bought us all bracelets made from tubes and they are so cool! I spotted a tote bag... made of Racing Ralph tires.... I had to have it. It was the high point of my day, coolest thing I have ever bought!

After my excitement with the bag, we walked around waiting for Gino’s start. Unfortunately, Gino did not get to do the awesome short course we did, but instead did a long 13 mile loop. He ended up getting 2nd in his age category which was awesome! It was a fun day to watch the race and great to see some of the same racers from last weeks race! Race day tomorrow!
Day 18- Race day
UGH. My ultimate disappointment- I was too sick to race. Throwing up all morning, didn’t get any sleep. Worst feeling ever. I was so sad I could not race. The girls were all getting ready and I was just coughing up a lung. It was pouring rain of course... my absolute favorite conditions to race in.... which made it even harder for me to admit that I should not race. Instead I went out on course and cheered for the girls.
It was an epic race- Sabin Smitz was leading by minutes and the mud was just flying everywhere. Girls were crashing left and right and it was insane to watch. I went up to the first downhill to take pictures of the girls coming down the hill. Linnea was walking, and I knew she could ride it, so I screamed at her to get back on. She got on.... and rode 10 feet off the course into a bush. WHOOPS!
Next time I’ll keep my mouth shut! :D Next came Ellie, poor girl, she was having a hard time getting down the hill with all the mud. She ended up crashing in the same place, this time really bad. I helped her off course because her ankle was pretty torn up. This German medic came.... and he just would not leave us alone! He didn’t speak a word of English and a little French so we were trying desperatley to tell him I would take Ellie to Drew.
He obviously did not get it as he walked down the entire hill with us. Such confusion in this language! Luckily my friend Kevin helped sort things out and translated for us, making the journey much easier! Ellie was in good hands so I went on course again, not knowing how the others were doing. Alicia was killling it! She ended up 9th in the field which was awesome! The rest of the girls did great and I was so proud to be walking around with the American colors on my back!
Racing was over and packing was soon to begin. The group washed off the mud and started taking apart the bikes. I was really sad to be leaving but also happy to see my friends and family at home. Driving to the airport was fun- Ellen and I were the “sickies” so we were shunned from the van, but we had fun with Drew! I just hope I can get on a plane and home safely!

Switzerland Day 13, 14, & 15

2010-06-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Day 13-
We took a nice ride today up into the ski resort of Champery. It was in the same direction as Saturday but we went up a much steeper road. It was so gorgeous winding up through the fields of cows and goats! Once we reached the top the view was incredible- we could see for miles and miles!
We were also quite close to the French border so that was pretty cool to imagine :) Unfortunatley my back started hurting again... which means my spinal injections did not work :( I was upset but I tried pushing through it- in the end I turned around shortly after Ben and headed home. I would rather see it better and try to rest. Later that night we planned to go swimming in the river again and invited the Rabobank team. Only two of them were man enought to stick out the rain and go with us :) It was a blast and Ellen and I dunked ourselves several times in the river- SO COLD! :D Tomorrow is the last day in Champery.. hope it is a good one! :D
Day 14-
Last ride in Champery! It was quite sad that we were leaving the beautiful Swiss Alps but I was also excited to travel to Germany. We rode over by the race course- up above it actually and did some intervals. We ended up going to this steeeeeep climb that was unridable for most of us! (not Gino!) It is just amazing how steep the road was because it went up to a little town in the mountains. That got us wondering how their winters were :) On the way down I saw a Chamois- a very rare Swiss goat. It was exciting but when I stopped it was too late for anyone else to see it. Down at the race course we did some technical work and saw the British national team. After a long day we packed up our bags and got ready for the long drive in the morning.

Day 15- Drive to Germany
Today we drove to Germany! As exciting as it sounds.... I slept the whole way :) It felt like a really short drive and we were in German speaking towns in no time. I completely forgot about the World Cup until we reached Albstadt. There were German flags EVERYWHERE you looked. You can definatley see that their country takes a lot of pride in its sports. We reached our new home- it was actually a hotel like farm. There were stables with over 30 horses, goats, pigs, bunnies, cats, and even wierd crazy chickens! Ellen and I had a blast saying hi to every single horse we could find.
After a short walk, we had dinner- a full three course meal- with a very yummy ice cream dessert. Ellen and I went out to the horses again and got yelled at by an evil German woman. Wish I knew this language better... :)

Switzerland Day 11 & 12

2010-06-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

Day 11- RACE DAY!
WOOO. SO stoked for race day! It was a blast. We didn't get to go over to watch the Junior boys unfortunatley, but Matthias won Amateur so it was awesome for him. We started 5 minutes after the Pro Women, so it was a little intimidating.
We were pretty much the only ones warming up on the road, without rollers, umbrellas and full blown massage to warm up :) The start was less intense than I thought it would be, but at the end of the first straightaway, we turn on this bridge, and I got elbowed in the stomach. I had the choice of crashing into the river, or just plain crashing, so I kinda tried to slide over. This was a mistake, as people ran me over and someone kicked me in the head. All I could hear was Kevin SCREAMING on the side.. GO MEGHAN GO GO GO!! Ugh of course then I had a terrible position, with the moto right behind me, but I kept going. I began to feel really good, but I didn't really pass anyone until the start of the first lap. The rest of the race was definatley an adventure, and when the pros started lapping us.... wow, they are SO fast! I was just really happy to finish- I wasn't lapped! I wasn't last! I was stoked! :D
The rest of the girls did well, Alicia killed it, coming in 9th and even winning some money. It was awesome to see an American do well!
We sticked around to watch the pro race, as my hero of life Julien Absalon was there- OMG. :D I was so excited! Kevin and the rest of the boys were racing so we were running around the course like mad. Linnea, Ellen and I had a blast riding along side Julien up the climb. He was so cool about it too.
We tried it with the boys too, but most didn't like it! Poor Kevin had to drop out because of an injury :( but the rest of the boys did pretty good for racing in pro. My favorite part of the day was our picture with Julien... I know we pretty much stalked him to get it but I was stoked! :D

After the race Connie drove us to France for the opener of a big road race. It was an entirely different world over there, as the roadies lifestyles are completly different from mountain bikers. There were huge busses for each of the teams, equipped with everything a cyclist could ever need. It was also cool to see Contador start the race- even though I am not an avid roadie, he was amazingly strong and won the opener easily. In the end we were happy with how the day went and we all went back to the house and got some much needed rest.

Day 12- VELODROME
After race day, normally I would take a day off, or just go for an easy ride. Instead Connie took us down to the World Cycling headquarters to ride the Velodrome. I have ridden the Colorado Springs velodrome several times, but this was much more exciting! We were in Europe after all and we also had the opportunity to ride with the World record holder, and Olympian Sarah Hammer. She was amazingly strong but we were able to hang with her on the warm up :) After countless laps around the track, the kids began to do hot laps... Kelsey had the fastest out of us all, but no one was able to break Sarah’s record :)
At home, we finally began talking to our neighbors, the Rabobank team. They had some amazing riders on their team and were hilarious with their inflatable pool in the front yard.

Switzerland Day 8, 9 & 10

2010-06-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Day 8-
After a great time in Montana we had to travel over to Champery to meet the US Junior Girls after their trip over here. We said bye to Anita and drove through the beautiful valley and up the mountain to the little village. I was surprised to see race signs everywhere! They have such a great program over here! My dad checked into his hotel but it was still pretty early so we decided to ride the course. It was AWESOME. I mean dream course for Meghan! Even though I could not ride the first drops, I still loved how short and technical it was. Such a great course for racing! I was a little bit intimidated as little kids were riding the technical sections faster than me, but I still was stoked for the race! We went to the hotel and cleaned up, but we had no idea where to find the girls. We were sure they were here, but we did not have any one's phone number and did not know the address. Finally we drove around and saw the team going out to ride the course. It was great seeing them finally and they told us where to go. The house is beautiful and great for the team to live in. Right in the heart of the mountains, it has a great location, not far from the race venue.
Day 9-
Preride!! The team went over to the race course to practice the technical sections and it was a lot of fun.
I got everything down and I was so excited to race on Sunday. The girls were riding great and we all were a little relaxed about racing.

Ginos race was the next day because he had to race in Hard. There were a few intense crashes along the way, but finally we seemed to get getting the lines, or deciding to run! After pre-riding we took a nice dip in the creek- although Gino, Alicia and I were the only ones who went in all the way! :D Got some much needed rest for Gino's race day!
Day 10-
Gino's race day! The rest of the group took a nice ride up the mountain, through the farms and up some steep climbs. Gino's race went very well- we were more or less expecting the worst and we were quite wrong! The girls drew on our stomachs to say GO GINO.... and this led to many photos taken by swiss people we dont know :)

It was great fun, as Ellen, Linnea and I pretty much sprinted around the course cheering for Gino.

He had a great race- starting in 52 place out of 61 and ended up finishing 24th! It was a great effort and we were all stoked for him! The girls are all stoked for tomorrows race so it should be exciting! :D

Switzerland Day 5, 6 & 7

2010-06-04T00:29:00.000-07:00

Day 5-
In the morning we woke up early and moved out of the farm. It was fun staying there, but I was ready to explore more of Europe! We drove over Chateaux Deaux and headed up towards Cole de Mosses. It was a gorgeous drive and I loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, I was very very tired still from jet lag and sitting in a car for that long did not help at all. We took a stop in Aigle for a while to stretch our legs and get a special treat from the bakery :) then got back in the car to drive to Montana, the town in which my dad grew up.

After a long drive up a narrow, windy Swiss road, we ended up in the towns of Crans- Montana. It was far up on the mountain, right near the snow even! I met Anita- my step grandmother of some sorts, and we went out to lunch at a friends restaurant.

I took a long long nap because I was so tired, but when I woke up I was very homesick. It is hard not being able to contact the people you love for days on end, let alone be immersed in a different culture entirely. Hopefully it will get better over the trip because I still have more than two weeks!

Day 6-
Probably the best riding day so far- my dad and I went on an epic ride to Faverges on top of the mountain. We met a guy named Marcelle... actually he was a downhiller and he passed us going uphill :)

He was so cool and took us to the top of the climb so we could figure out where to ride. It was also good for me because he defiantly was pushing the pace. We rode all around Aminona on the bisses (flume). Such an incredible ride! Afterwords we were very muddy so we hosed down the bikes and our bodies in the front lawn. Later we went to Bluche on the Fanicular and walked to Randogne.

It was cool to see all of the places my dad worked and went to school. That night we went out to dinner with Anita at Petit Paradis. I found my favorite dish so far- Rosti :) So good! The owners gave us a bottle of wine so I am going to save it to drink in a couple years :)

Day 7- Our final day staying in Montana, we decided to go over to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. I woke up really early to get a quick ride, then we proceded to drive to Zermatt. You cannot drive into the town so we took the train up. It was a little cloudy and we could not see the Matterhorn at all so it was quite dissapointing. Instead we walked around and took a picnic up in a little field on the side of the mountain.

Finally we just decided to go for going on the train to the Gornergrat to see the view. It was super super cloudy when we arrived at the top but it was starting to clear up. Luckily on the way down the clouds started to part and the Matterhorn was finally out with the clear blue sky.

It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen.

So amazingly spectacular I cannot describe it. On the train down, we got off a stop early to hike down the mountain- we found some epic mountain bike trails, making me wish I had my bike. Oh well maybe next time! I wanted to do some tourist shopping so I bought a Swiss Army Knife- very nice! After the long day, my dad let me drive home- that was sure to keep me awake! The people here drive so fast, it was terrifying having to drive home! I'm just glad I know how to drive stick, let alone drive it at 120 kilos an hour :) :)

Switzerland Day 3 & 4

2010-06-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

Day 3-
In the morning I woke up and rode to Schwarztsee- a little down in the heart of the mountains. It was beautiful up there, but I got lost a couple times trying to find where to go.

First race day for the Racer Bikes Cup. It was amazing just to watch the junior categories race- they were incredibly fast and incredibly strong on course. We pretty much just ran around course and watched the mega, rock, easy and hard racers. I also got to meet one of Kevin's friends Matthias Stirnemann- Swiss Junior National Champion. He had the lightest bike I have ever seen in my life!

Later that night we drove to Schwarztsee and to eat.

Day 4-
Finally it was race day in Plaffeien. We woke up super super early for a ride in order to watch the racing later that day. I was very glad I didnt not have the pre race nerves- I was nervous enough for the US boys! The first race we watched was the Junior and Amateur race with Matthias. He did very well and it was fun to watch.

Then we met up with the U23 boys team... watched them warm up and ultimately prepare for the race. Before the race started I got to see, or more or less creep on, Swiss National Champion Florien Vogel, World Champion Nino Shurter, and Olympic silver medalist Jean Christophe Peraud.

It was really cool to see the best racers in the world lining up at the start with Kevin and the rest of the boys. Unfortunatley half way through the race, it started pouring rain. Poor Kevin had to finish 6 laps on course, with the mud and crap all over the place. The rest of the Americans did pretty good- Russell did fantastic as usual and the rest trickled in behind. It was so fun to watch Kevin race and I am glad we were able to!

Switzerand Day 1 & 2

2010-06-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Day 1-
The first day in Switzerland was very exciting. After a long and exhasting flight from Washington, we arrived in the city of Geneva. The first new thing I noticed was the cars! I have always been a car person and I just loved seeing all the new and tiny cars over here. The taxis of course were all Mercedes... immediately showing me a little about the life in the city. We then left, or attempted to leave Geneva- it took a couple tries to get out of the traffic of the city. The drive was long, so we stopped in Ouchy near Lausanne on a part of Lake Geneva. It was so beautiful, so we grabbed a bite to eat from the town bakery. We discovered the Olympic headquarters along with several museums along the way.

Our second stop was in Fribourg- a larger town, but very spectacular. My dad and I took a walk down to old Fribourg, under the bridge and down to the river- such an amazing sight to see! At this point I was growing quite tired, but I had to keep myself awake to keep up with the time difference. Luckily the driving on windy roads at 100 kilos an hour kept me wide awake!

We finally arrived at our first destination- as we planned to stay in a bed and breakfast in the Swiss German part of Switzerland.

It was called Ober Maggenberg and the B&B was just a typical Swiss farm in the middle of the country. The people there were so nice to us and showed us around the farm- a lot of cows, chickens, horses, cats and dogs along with all the smells! It was still early in the day so I decided to ride to keep awake. I ended up seeing some old ruins down in the forest and found a path which seemed abandoned. After the steep descent I found a secret single-track, EPIC riding, unfortunately all downhill so I had to hike back up :( Overall a successful day!

Day 2-
BREAKFAST- oh the best thing about this country! I have never eaten so much bread and cheese in my life! Our hosts spread out an amazing meal for us in the morning and I nearly ate the whole plate of cheese :) I rode to Phlaffaien to check out the riding near the race course and met up with my dad who rented a bike at Mahu. We ended up riding the course several times and I LOVED it. If only I could race... but it was very intimidating. I just wish I could take some of this sweet down hilling back with me :) After a great ride, we drove over to Gryeres for some touristy fun.

Lunch was good in the castle walls and we lucked out, getting a tour of the castle while it was pouring rain outside. As we were leaving the city, we asked an information booth about the chocolate factory in Broc, the next town over. She told us the last tour was in ten minutes, so we RAN to the car, drove 100 kph to Broc and got the last tour of the day! I can’t decide if this was the best decision.... :) The tour was good- kind of cheesy, typical Americans would love it, but at the end of the tour they took us to this big “sampling” room.

Of course I had to try one of every kind of chocolate.... :) I was eating so much chocolate I don’t think I could taste it after a while. What do they expect when they put 200 of every kind of chocolate in a room with me?! :D Ah well I definitely think the stomach ache was worth it!

Graduation and Europe :)

2010-05-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hey all, its been a while since I last posted.

I finally graduated from Summit High School. My year was the best yet, meeting new friends and making the most of senior year. I also joined the swim team for the first time- quite a challenge!

This spring I went to Hawaii with my best friends Kayla and Ashley. It was a great trip and we shared many memories on the island of Maui.

I also traveled down to Moab two times- once with the Tokyo Joe's team and once with my dad. I had some epic training rides and felt great the whole time.

Unfortunately I started to have lower back pain through the swim season. I pushed through it, thinking it was nothing, but the pain grew worse and worse. I went to several doctors and found that I had a disc herniation in my lower back which was pushing into my nerves, making my leg fall asleep. I began going to physical therapy and underwent a spinal injection procedure. As of now it feels a lot better and riding is not as painful.

When I was in Moab with my dad, I recieved a call from Connie Carpender, world class cyclist and Olympic gold medalist in the 1984 Los Angeles road race. I was asked to join a team of junior cyclists to travel over to Europe. We would be racing in the Swiss Racer Bikes Cup in Champery and the Bundesliga in Albstadt, Germany. Being the opportunity of a lifetime, of course I decided to go!

Training has been hard, with the back injury and finishing up school, but I am ready to race and meet the competition in Europe :)

The school year has finally come to a close, with exciting memories at prom, commemoration and graduation. I am excited yet nervous for Europe as it will be the first time being in a foreign country as well as racing against the top junior racers in the world.

My main goal of the trip is to get a picture with Julien Absalon, athough getting near him would be hard enough!! :)

I will keep the blog up and running while my adventures in Europe continue!

Until next time... <3>

Long Time No Speak :)

2009-06-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well I just realised how long it has been since writing- I guess school getting out and the anticipation of training has made me loose track of my blogging!

Of course Kevin and I have been racing quite a lot. This includes the MSC as well as a few local Summit Mountain Challenges and the Pro XC Cup in Colorado Springs.

Kevin has been doing excellent- his first year in the Pro Elite field.

I, however, am not. I can't really express my feelings for what has been happening, but the only thing I can say is that coaching is the biggest difference in the world. Last year I thought it was a little rough because my coaches wern't really there for me 100% but looking back it was so much better than this year. Having to train on my own is so difficult, but I have no other choice. Kevin took charge of coaching me, but as helpful as it could be, I can't go out alone and do efforts. I try, I really do. It just doesn't seem to be enough. Showing up at the numerous races I always have a little hope, a little spark inside me that thinks I may in fact be able to keep up. As soon as the race starts my flame goes out... I just can't compete with these girls. It destroys my mentality to go through the races, and well really I've only been able to finish three this year (two of which were short track). Sure injury and mechanicals come into play, but even so I am miles behind my friends. The only thing keeping me going at this point is the fact that these girls are my friends. I do not spend time with anyone outside of cycling. The girls and guys I race with are the only people that matter anymore, the only thing keeping me going. I just wish there were some way I could once again race alongside them, instead of in the back. It was my goal this year to make it to worlds- a goal which would require winning nationals. I have long since given up on this hope. Reality has settled in and I have to face the facts. I ride because I love it, and the racing is my dream... this year has been, and I'm sure will continue to be the hardest ever.

The pressure I put on myself is too big to imagine so I hope I will live up to it by the end of this year. If anyone needs a riding buddy I'm always free-

Love Megs

The Unlucky Penny

2009-04-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

Moab & Fruita Spring Break 2009

Day 1- The Penny

Saturday, we started our trip out to Moab, Utah for a much needed spring break. I was so glad to get away from the snow covered Summit County. After a long car ride we sought out our usual campsite under the Elephant Foot.

I am not much of a superstitious person, but when I saw a penny heads up, I was ecstatic! I pronounced it my lucky penny and put it under my bed. My dad and I headed out for a ride on Slickrock finishing with a faster time than ever! When we got back I taped the penny into my helmet.

Some lucky penny!

Day 2- Pineapples and Milk?

Monday I was eager to ride my favorite trail- Porcupine Rim. With my penny snug in my helmet we rode the climb to the lookout. I felt great and realised all the early season training had paid off. As we started the descent, we caught a group of riders, boosting my competitive side so much that I was flying. It's amazing how much faster I go when people are around. My dad and I got to a section with various drops across the trail.

Of course, I didn't think twice about launching myself off the biggest one. I landed and a second too late noticed the large rock in the middle of my path. There was no way my wheel would make it over. I've crashed many a time while riding, but this had to be the slowest endo I have ever experienced. A string of thoughts crossed my mind... as my back wheel began to lift off the ground "Oh crap", my bike became vertical "wow this will hurt", looking at the rock my face was headed for "Please don't get hurt", and the final impact "Damn that penny". I was okay, my shoulder hurt and I had a scraped up chin. I still finished the ride, a little slower of course :)

This kind of crash deserved a milkshake in town... Pineapple? It was actually quite good!

Some lucky penny!

Day 3- Slickrock Squared

After a rough nights sleep I wasn't feeling up to a ride with my parents. I slept, walked around and decided to go ride Slickrock. I only was able to complete the short loop due to my shoulder.

Later we went to town, picked out stickers for Matthias and Katrine, and went out to dinner. The food was great and enjoyable with a live band playing. That night was the biggest, most insane windstorm ever. Sleep was not possible and I thought the camper would blow away with us in it!

Some lucky penny!

Day 4- Like a little headwind?

Wednesday morning we popped down the camper and drove to Fruita, Colorado. Unfortunately the windstorm followed us. My dad and I went out to ride the course battling the headwind all the way on the rim trail. I still felt great, and we did the whole ride in two hours- much faster than my race time last year!
Popping up was cold and windy, while the remains of Moab dust were swept away from camp. While playing with my parents, I got a Yahtzee in one roll.... but I had already crossed it off.

Some lucky penny!

Day 5- What do you mean changed?

Kevin's instructions said take a day off... so sleeping in and relaxing was all that was on my mind. After the parents left however, boredom reached a new high. I never realised how boring it would be without Kevin there. I played Yahtzee with myself, drew random objects and at one point I sat at the table, staring at the ceiling for about an hour. I thought I would go insane! Finally my parents returned from their ride... with some bad news. The race was unable to get a permit for the rim section of the course. They ended up changing it so it was now 28 miles and completely different. So much for a day off- I headed out with my dad in the car. We drove as far as possible and then proceeded to ride the new course.

Now when I say the course was epic, I mean it was an EPIC ride. The scenery was amazing, and apart from the 70% of road, it was fun. I just couldn't imagine it being a race. It was just... crazy! The ride took over 3 hours, but in the end, I still felt strong.
I was okay with the new course but I still liked the old one better.

Some lucky penny!

Day 6- Cyclist Shaving

With one day left to rest and prep for my first race, my dad and I rode a quick lap on the time trial course. It was the first day I actually was tired. We rode it slow, and it took over 30 minutes to complete.
I was happy when my mom, dad and I went to the town of Fruita. The local park had washing machines and showers- finally a clean feeling! I only had 4 minutes of shower time, so saving time, I ended up shaving my legs in the bathroom sink. What a sight it would be for a tourist to find a girl in spandex sitting on the sink shaving her legs...haha :)

Later we found out that Summit had be receiving massive amounts of snow in our absence. Lynn Bush, Tough Girl and team creator, was supposed to bring my new kits, but she was stuck at home. I wouldn't have my new kits for the next day's race.

Some lucky penny!

Day 7- Three Seconds

My race didn't start until 11:15 so I had time to sleep and time to get really nervous. I warmed up with Ellen, Ellie, and Wesley from Tokyo Joes. (Jill was also stuck in the blizzard) I was so glad to see them I really didn't care about how I did.

My dad came up and asked my preference on start order. I said I would like to go in the middle or last, but not first. We looked at the start sheet.... guess who was first?

The climb was awful, but once I got to the top I felt great. Alicia caught me on the road back to the finish, but I didn't care. In the end, my time was 22 minutes- 8 minutes faster than last year, so I was pretty happy. Alicia was first, Wesley was second, and I was third. Wesley beat me by three seconds.... ha ha... oh well, maybe next time I'll get her!

Jill made it down in time to race and had to get my permission to race- stupid officials make a big deal out of everything- It's not like I would have said no she can't race. Jill ended up having a great race, bumping Wesley to third and I was fourth. I was glad but I still had the XC to worry about the next day.

The good news was Lynn made it down and I picked up my 2009 kit. Christmas in April! Green and pink cables and housing were probably the product that I was bouncing off the walls about... But the kits are amazing!
Some lucky penny!

Day 8- Five or higher

So much for sleep- this race had me shaking in my shoes. I don't know why I was so nervous! I got ready about 3 hours early and tried to calm myself by some pre-race sleeping.

I warmed up, and went to the start. I had to face it one way or another. The Cat 1 group ended up being about 50 riders so our start was intense. I got caught up in the moment and had a great start. When we hit the sand, I don't know what happened... I just sort of fell off and started riding in the riverbed. By the time I got back in a position, all I could think was how far back I was. All of the girls started passing me and my fighting didn't seem to do any good. Every climb we came to, the pack would pull further and further away. We got to the first descent and I blew down it. There was a drop halfway through- it was easy, but I felt a burning pain in my shoulder afterwords. It began to worsen, but I just kept telling myself to suck it up. Its the worse feeling when you know you can't finish. The pack was long gone by this point, and getting to the climb I was mentally and physically exhausted. My shoulder throbbed, but I wouldn't let myself go. My mind was telling me how much I sucked, how far back I was, how I was slow, and how people would think I just wasn't good. I pushed through it until I got to my dad. He told me I was 14 minutes back and I just mentally gave up. I couldn't do it.

I got a ride back and went to the ambulance about my shoulder. I told them my pain was a four without moving it and a 7 with moving it. The guy said if it had been 5 or higher they would have rushed me to the hospital right away- what a wierdo. They put a glove filled with ice on it... don't you just love that? After I was released, I had to walk through the finish back to camp. That was the worst- having to face your peers on the peak of defeat.

Currently my shoulder is healing, I don't need any kind of surgery! I'm glad it's not worse and I'm ready to get riding again!

Some lucky penny... I think I'm throwing it away :)

Snow Biking

2009-03-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Finally was able to get some quality riding last week with the Tough Girls. We rode for a good 3 and a half hours on awesome singletrack! I was so happy to be out on the trails that I was hammering the entire time. I felt great! The rest of the week passed very quickly. Freshmen and Sophmores were taking CSAP so we were able to sleep until 11 for three days! It was so much better than a regular school day. I trained in the morning and the afternoon, getting a lot of riding in. I love CSAP! We should have a schedule like that everyday! :)
Each week it has been getting hotter and hotter up here and the snow is melting like crazy. I was so ready for the trails to dry out so we could finally have spring riding. Unfortunatley Thursday rolled around, along with a HUGE winter storm. Of course, Summit High went to school and toughed out the conditions being the ONLY school in the entire state to go to school. We got to sit inside watching a raging blizzard outside for the entire day. Heaven forbid we get stuck in the snow, so they let us out a whole 30 MINUTES early... man that 30 minutes just made the biggest difference ever (Note the heavy sarcasm).

Today I was instructed to take a day off the bike by my lovely brother Kevin. However, this "day off" was spent skiing with Erik. There was some good snow, but as usual some really really annoying tourists. I have come to realise how spoiled I am when it comes to skiing. I find the snow horrible when most people are jumping for joy. I get frustrated with the "crowds" of 20 people in line. Maybe I should think again about where I live and relax. :)

Well looks like I should go out and enjoy the snow. Again. For another couple months.

Trying to think postive about biking!

Miss you Kevin!

Snow snow go away!

2009-03-16T14:42:00.000-07:00

The past week went by slower than imaginable. It started off with me getting detention!! The greatest part is that I got detention for eating an apple... in the commons... which I guess is not allowed. Our school is insane! Watch out though, I'm really a bad kid now! :)

I spent the rest of the week dragging myself to school, and attempting to get motivated by riding the trainer. While it was snowing outside, I was inside riding the rollers... again.

On Saturday morning I drove down to Golden with Brenda for a Tough Girl ride. Brenda, Lynn, Janis and I rode our mountain bikes on Lair of the Bear. It was a great trail and I was so happy to be back on my mountain bike!

After our ride we went back to Lynn's house and started putting together the "Christmas presents". I was overwhelmed by how much stuff we got this year! Unfortunatley the jerseys are not in yet, but I got some awesome green grips that I am excited about. (I bet that when Kevin gets back he will steal..or try to steal some of the millions of stickers we recieved) The helmets this year look great also. Tough Girls will be bigger than ever with 20 riders on the team!

The group went on a ride Sunday morning, but we were bummed none of the new members showed up. After having a team meeting and discussing this years plans, Brenda and I headed back up the hill to the snow. Oh joy....

Kevin has sent me another weeks worth of riding- I see now that I have to ride the rollers for 1 hr 45 min. I'm pretty sure I will die of boredom before then :) Haha- I just can't wait until we can ride the trials!

Tough Girls go GREEN...

2009-03-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

We just recieved the layout for the 2009 Tough Girls kit. We're going to stand out more than ever this year!

I just got back from a Boulder ride with the Tough Girls. I drove down with Brenda M. and we were both glad for the nice weather! The team (10+ girls) went for a nice 2 hr 45 min road ride up to Fruit Loops and worked on some climbs. I wasn't feeling too good by the end of the ride and was glad to turn back with Brenda.

I'm not so ready for another long week at school, but excited to head down next weekend to Boulder for the team meeting where we will recieve these awesome kits!

See you on the trails!

Rollers and Bosu Ball

2009-03-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
Just finished a week of training. The snow is coming down as I am writing this so it looks like this is going to be a long spring!

Fortunately, the weather early in the week was good, so I was able to ride on the roads! It was windy and cold, but it felt good to be on the bike outside for once. The tourists did seem to like having to deal with snow and a biker, as shown in their reactions as they passed in their gas guzzling cars.

Training is difficult when I have to find the motivation without thinking about the snow! I spent most of the week running, riding the rollers, and stretching on my new Bosu Ball!

tbs... The Office is the best show :)

Flexibility!

My training also includes driving a lot... (trying to get my license finally)

along with eating healthy,

and getting a lot of much needed sleep.

Going to Boulder to ride tomorrow! Hopefully the weather lets up this week so I may be able to ride outside some more!

Cactus Queen and Arizona Heat

2009-03-02T19:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
So I just got back from camp in Suprise, Arizona. I must say it was rough having not ridden for these past few months. I probably should have trained a lot more! Riding proves to be a lot more difficult when faced with 5+ feet of snow.

Lucky for me the Boulder Junior Cycling Team (Jill, Ellen, Brae, Ben, Coach Ann, Coach Nick and Coach Alec) leg me tag along on their annual trip down to AZ. The car ride was long but Ellen and I were able to entertain ourselves with endless games of 20 questions and I -Spy. We also came up with a great story about Steve the Pirate and his pet monkey, but that is a whole different story...
The first day we started off the morning with stretches, pushups and situps. We then went out to White Tanks, 12 miles from the house and rode the race course. We saw a rattlesnake on course but being excellent bike handlers, we were able to avoid it! :)

When we got home we ended up waxing brae's legs for most of the afternoon and evening. This was very entertaining for us girls and after 3 different boxes of wax, we were finished!

Day two consisted of a hike-a-bike for about 2 miles... asthma was not working well with me at this point. Once we got to the top of the climb, we came down on some sweet smooth single track- I think the hiking was totally worth it!

Brae crashed on some sprints and cracked his helmet, but he ended up buying a much more attractive one!
On day three we drove out to Estrella Mountain Park Competitive Tracks. Really hot temperatures so we went swimming when we got back! By this time of the week I was starting to feel the burn :)

We worked on technical skills on day four over in White Tanks. Rode a section of the trail countless times to practice our lines and speed through them. I loved this part because of the great downhilling! Later on, we played battle ship, and did homework... or at least tried to!

On day five we went out for one last look at the course. It was a great loop with some technical sections, a nice climb, some desending, and flat rolling sections. I loved it! On the way home we picked up some lemons from the trees along the road. Ellen, Jill, Brae, Ben and I squeezed the lemons, added water... and realised we were out of sugar. Maple Syrup was added making it the most disgusting drink ever.... everyone thought so except Brae and Ann- crazy!

Day six- Race day was finally here! On the first lap, going around a corner I fell over into a cactus and was able to sit my whole butt into the plant. It takes great skills to accomplish a move like that. I started walking back to the car with 15+ cactus in my butt, leg and foot when Nick caught me. He stopped and was able to rip the plants out one by one with some rocks. It was probably the most pain I have ever experience in my life. Much worse than last months road crash!

On a lighter note, Jill, Ellen and Ben all finished the race!

They did great! Ben and Jill won themselves a spanking machine and we finished off the night with ice cream!

The next day we packed up the cars and headed back home to the snowy mountains of Colorado. The car ride was enjoyable - we listened to Umbrella and Hips Don't Lie over and over again. The songs will be stuck in my head for the next couple of months I am sure.

I miss camp a lot already- riding isnt much up here and the boulder kids are so awesome to hang around. I wish I could hang out with them more than anyone because we have so much in common!

(PHOTOS- thanks to www.boulderjuniorcycling.org aka Nick- I forgot my camera and needed some life to the blog!)

Kevin is still in Europe :( I know he is having fun but I have never been this lonely in my life. It just is so boring at the house now. I dont think he realises how much I miss him!

I can't wait to ride again- Snow, snow go away!!!!

Spring Headaches

2009-03-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

One of the first rides of the year unfortunatley ended up being another stressful day.
I was riding in Bear Creek on my road bike when I crashed, slid into a ditch, and totally shattered my helmet. Nothing seemed to be majorly harmed except my leg and head. Of course, I was more concerned about my bike than my physical state. I ended up hitching a ride to the pay station where we then tried to contact my brother. Unfortunatley he was on another "epic" ride and was out of cell service.... for two hours...

The park ranger was able to help me get to my car and told me not to sleep because of the minor concussion.

After eating a massive Qudoba, we headed home to meet my dad. Of course anyone who knows my dad would know he took pictures.

The leg didn't hurt too bad....

My face and head hurt the worse...

And of course I had to deal with the black eye for the next couple weeks. No fun :(

Really the most dissapointing thing was my favorite helmet was in peices...

Ah well- life will go on!

Just got back from camp in Arizona. Will post blog when I have a chance!