That’s really all I need to say about the Gila this week. I’m going to try and slog through it (which is totally what today was…), but basically I have absolutely nothing left except my stubbornness…. Tomorrow is a new day though! there is always the hope of coming around. 2 weeks off after this, I just need to hang in there a little longer and maybe gain some fitness, or at least burn a massive amount of calories! 
I have been enjoying the last couple of days in Albuquerque with my family. It’s nice and warm here, finally!! I got here on Saturday and my dad and I went to a car show. Yes, I have neglected to bring my camera cord again, so photos for all of my posts will magically appear a week later. Yesterday I went for a recovery ride down on the Bosque bike path by the river with some very good company, and have been enjoying the home life. Unfortunately, I think I am getting sick. I have felt totally exhausted with a sore throat the last couple of days. I’m really hoping I feel better soon. It’s not exactly ideal to go into a 5 day stage race feeling like poo, but I’ll push through it I hope. I get 2 weeks off from racing after this, so my body just needs to hold out a little bit longer! Instead of racing in the coming weeks, I’m going camping with Liz and going to my cousin’s wedding in Dallas. Yaaay! A break at last. 
Nina and are jetting out of here tomorrow morning down to Silver City. Check back for race updates. Hopefully I’ll have good news!!
Yeah…this is sort of embarrassing, but I am being encouraged to post these videos.
I started playing guitar about a year ago and writing songs 6 months ago. My friend Dylan (Dylanwardmusic.com) was sort of my role model in that regard because he’s been playing for about 15 years, has recorded 2 albums all by himself, and plays around town. After wimping out week after week, I finally swallowed the lump in my throat and headed to Conor Oneils for Tuesday open mic night. Now I did have a few beers to loosen me up a bit (Guinness mixed with Kronenburg to be exact), but I got up on that stage in front of the bar and went for it.
Yes, you can be a bike racer and have more going on in your life than riding bikes! It is possible.
The first thing that happened was my eyes focused on the microphone in front of my face with a blurred background. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t wear my HR monitor 24/7, but I’m sure my HR was racing. I was shaking in my boots. I have never sang into a microphone before, so it was very odd. I felt like I couldn’t hear my voice very well, and I couldn’t fine tune it to perfection. Thanks sooo much to my wonderful friends who showed up and supported me. I had a big crowd!! I really enjoyed the experience and I can’t wait to do it again!! Fortunately these videos are dark so you can’t see my “deer in headlights” look, but at least you can hear the audio. I’ll be back there May 6! Come on out!
Cover of The Wreckers “Leave the Pieces”
a song I wrote- “I’ll Be Seeing You”
Another song I wrote: “Time” This was the first one and I messed it up a little, so I’m singing that one again next time!!!
Tour of the Gila next week. I’m going to dust off my roadie hat and go continue to get my butt in shape. I haven’t done a road race in awhile, so I’m a little nervous. I’m also nervous because it’s 5 stages totaling almost 300 miles. Our team is called “Sobe Bella” comprising of myself, Nina Baum, Kathy Sherwin, Shannon Gibson, Jenn Wilson, and Josie (I don’t know her last name, so sorry!). 5 of us are pro mountain bikers and I’m sure Josie is cool too, so it’ll be a fun team!!
I just got back Monday night, but I’m leaving tomorrow to Albuquerque to see the fam, and then Nina and I are driving down to Silver City on Tuesday. Me and my Sobe girls have been having so much fun this year!! Albuquerque is on the way anyway and my mom is making her special enchiladas and my dad is making me steak. Food is good. I found a cheap flight which makes me happy, but it still doesn’t make up for having to pay to take my bike on the plane. I wish we didn’t have to pay…it doesn’t seem fair. Me plus my bike in weight is a lighter than a lot of guys, body alone! I really like Southwest for a number of reasons, one being they only charge 50 each way instead of 85 like United. Southwest also gives you credit if your flight goes on special and lets you change your flight free of charge. They are the way to go!
When I got back from CA, I noticed that spring had sprung in boulder coming back on the bus. The hills are green and the flowers are blooming! Summer is a-comin’! That also means my allergies are raging.
If you haven’t noticed, I have a plane ticket fund on the right side of the website. It was suggested by my friends and hey, Matt Shriver did it! I really want to get out to the east coast and race the NY Norba and National Championships, but me oh my! Plane tickets are FOUR HUNDRED dollars (plus 100+ to take my bike on the plane). Ouch. So thank you so so much to those who have helped out. I can take my bike one way on the plane…now to take my own body on the plane. anyone else? It is very much appreciated.
See you in NM!
I’m behind on posting as usual, but I finally found an pinch of time today. Traveling keeps me super busy. It’s an endless cycle of packing, laundry, unpacking and trying to work, recover, AND keep my social life at home going.
Anyway, really quick. Sea Otter XC. It was cool because we started on the race track. Not so cool because mountain bikers riding in a pack is sketchy. I knew it was going to be a tough day when I was warming up on the trainer and my heart rate wouldn’t budge from 126. if you know me, you know my heart beats like a hummingbird in races. My avg for a race is usually in the upper 190s, so when I can barely get up to 130 right before a 40 mile XC, I’m not a happy camper. When this occurs, sometimes it helps if I eat a couple of gus. That seemed to do the trick because I was in the 150s after that. I actually felt decent for the first 45 minutes or so of the race. My moment of glory was making a sweet pass in the sketchy line of the first long downhill. The spectators went nuts for it. Not much later, POW. I started going backwards and got passed by about 15 girls. My HR plummeted and I could produce NO power. I got really frustrated and Negatron was at it again in my head. I was having a hard time shutting him down too… so much so that I came around to the feed zone (1 lap is 20 miles) where my friend Tina was waiting, I was contemplating dropping out. I stopped and got two bottles from her. Then I started chatting and telling her I didn’t know if I could even finish another 20 with the way I felt. I am not a quitter and with a little pat on the back from her, I took off again. I was bound and determined to simply HAVE FUN despite the soggy legs. It was a breakthrough for me because I genuinely enjoyed the second lap. I tried to tell myself that it’s okay, to not think about results, to just enjoy riding my bike in California because that is what I was there to do. I can never seem to have a good race in CA. I had a terrible run at Fontana and Los Olivos next year. That experience actually was good for me to think about, because my legs came around later in the year. I was talking with and yelling with the spectators, singing Queen’s The Show Must Go On at the top of my lungs, smiling in the sun. It was worth finishing that race. Sonya Looney is not a quitter. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and take it like a..a.. (I want to say a man, but that just isn’t right and anything else I could say is crude so I’ll stop)…. Anyway, I think I ended up in 32nd or something.
My team did really well. Jenna, Kathy, and Emily were on the podium!! I truly enjoyed the Sea Otter Classic and I’ll be back next year! Check back later for photos on this post… Thanks again to the Cannondale crew for everything. I am truly lucky to be a part of such an amazing team!!
Our set-up from behind at the venue.
The short track was up on that hill. It was pretty fun today and the start was very chaotic. I’m still not rocking out in the short tracks, but I did wear my special socks and a smile. The high end will come, it’ll just take a little extra time since I took a nice, long off-season this past year. Boulder short track series starts in June and I’ll be ready! Our team totally kicked butt with 3 or 4 of our riders in the top 10. Go Sobe!
Me and Matty J- our big shot team manager!
Thanks to our Pedro’s, one of our sponsors. They gave us their new seat bags. The seat bags are totally recyclable and lightweight. They are VERY cool!
Ergon is our grips sponsor and this is me and Jeff. He’s a semi-pro XC racer and pro endurance racer. Now that’s tough! The grips are light weight and super ergonomic. They are the best grips I have ever used, andmy teammates and I all agree it helps our descending. They also make a backpack that DOESN’T move around when you ride your bike. I tried it on for size. It was awesome!
How you know you are spending a lot of time with someone. We both simultaneously made the same face for this quick photo.
Of course we went the ocean, but it was too cold to go in. That’s the thing about going to races. Yes, you have to take it seriously but you also can’t forget to enjoy all the landscape and have a little fun!
Me, Tina, and Nina. The old UNM cycling crew is reunited! Tina used to live in ABQ with us, moved to Norcal, and came out to cheer us on!
Hills ANDbeach. Booyah!
Some landscape driving to the venue.
Cool, clear, water! I really wanted to go play in the waves, but it was 50 out and after dipping my foot in the water, it felt worse than my ice baths!
Nina and I being romantic on the beach. haha, Psyche! I love men. hee hee
Racing at low altitude is always an interesting experience. I tend to excel at mountainous, technical courses at high altitude. When I come down low, it feels like I blow up faster and don’t have the power I need to push it. Good thing I live in Colorado! Speaking of, although I love NorCal, I am looking forward to spending next week at home in Boulder.
I leave Saturday to hang out in the “Burque” for a few days and then Nina and I are heading down to Tour of the Gila.
Tomorrow- a 40 mile XC. I’m starting with one bottle of sports drink AND a bottle of water in my pocket so we don’t have an IV incident this weekend. I can’t wait!
I have never been to Northern California and it is more beautiful than I imagined. I love it here. :) My camera was out of batteries yesterday, so today I will make sure to appease the masses with plenty of photos. This the biggest cycling event I have ever been to and there’s a lot to see and talk about.
Today is the short track… I guess I’ll find out if I have any of that high-end fitness yet! Anyway, if you’re at the Sea Otter, come by the Sobe Cannondale trailer and say hi. I had a couple of my readers stop by and say hi and it’s always fun to see who your audience is.
Sorry for the delay on this post. Since I’m already at Sea Otter and a week has passed, I’ll make it quick. First off, I LOVE my Cannondale. It is absolutely amazing. It has really turned me into a better rider. I am not timid at all on descents and technical sections and really can put a gap on people on those sections. So the XC field was pretty big for a MSC, about 25 women. I was doing really well for the vast majority of the race, staying within the top 10. The only regret I had was that we were going so hard on the singletrack, it was difficult to look up and enjoy the beautiful desert. There were a few times were I was able to see the different colors of the desert and it literally took my breath away (well, what was left!).
Now comes the fun part of the story. Sometimes sports drink just won’t do it for you. Sometimes you just need water and for some reason, sports drink actually can dehydrate you more. It’s happened to me 2 other times. Yes, I said “other times.” 4 or 5 miles to go in the race. Suddenly I had no power. My back started to hurt and the cramping enveloped my whole body. I got really nauseated, couldn’t pedal, and couldn’t focus my eyes. I tried as hard as I could to go as fast as I could, but 6 pro women zoomed by me and there was nothing I could do. I was crawling by. I was off my bike, walking up the short hills that are usually a treat for me because I couldn’t pedal. I knew what was happening so I went straight the ambulance and I couldn’t stand up. The medics told me my coloring was really bad and they carefully laid me down on the stretcher and gave me an IV. It was amazing, I felt my body come back to life. I sheepishly exited the vehicle and was freezing and a bit embarrassed. But hey, I still beat 6 girls. I was disappointed with the mishap, but the reality was that I had a GREAT time for the majority of the race and I was doing well. I want to go back to Fruita, camp, and ride the trails in a non-race situation so I can enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Pictures don’t want to upload right now, so I’ll try later…. and give you a Sea Otter update. All I can say is my legs would not work at all on the preride yesterday, so hopefully they will be kind to me today.
Yes. It makes me sick. That would be a HUMMER pizza delivery vehicle… good choice to for gas mileage.
Being a dork, cooking my rice pasta on my camp stove in the hotel room. As Ace Ventura would say, “Yummy…”
Porta potties run out of TP pretty quick. You can never be too prepared.
We got to Fruita a little too late last night for me to pre-ride the TT course which turned out to be a very poor choice. I’m staying with the Tough Girls this weekend (my old team!) and everyone was going out for Mexican. I didn’t want to be a pain and make people drive me around everywhere so I could eat my rice pasta, so I reluctantly went with them. I had a Super Burrito which turned out to be a super gut bomb which had me feeling nauseated all morning. No, it’s not morning sickness. ha ha. I figured while I was doing everything wrong for race prep, I might as well have a beer too. It wasn’t worth it…Dos Equis Amber is not awesome. I am ultra spoiled by the Colorado microbrews. I had my nose in the air.
So today, race day. The Cannondale trailer had a HUGE presence at the race, and Eric was there to make me feel like a real pro. I got lots of comments today from all my Colorado buddies saying, “You changed colors!” I was incognito with my orange jersey and short hair. I have to say, I do miss my long braid resting on my shoulder for races. Boys, you wouldn’t understand.
I went to pre-ride part of the XC course…again, not my strength…. flat double track for a long time. The rocky singletrack will be good though!! My legs felt like rotten meat sticks which made me not even want to start the TT. I drank an energy drink and listened to some sweeeet techno to pep up and felt a little more excited. The big guns showed up to this race including Georgia Gould, Katie Compton, and Kelli Emmett. It’s cool that the paid pros come to mountain states cup races. I kept hearing about how technical the TT was and without my preride, I was very nervous about it. Turns out the riding was very similar to ABQ foothills riding (well, once you hit the singletrack) and I barely noticed the “crazy technical parts.” My legs felt like jello and I was not the happiest camper for the flat part of the race. However, I was able to shut up Negatron (that voice in my head that says mean things to me). I still rode around after the race with a big grin because I love mountain biking. I am still SO IMPRESSED with my Cannondale Scalpel. It’s the best bike I have ever had and it has really made me a more confident rider. I have noticed from the past two weekends that I am riding the technical sections like a pro. Pun intended. So I got 13th, was 3 sec out of 12th, 7 sec out of 11th and I think like 15 or 20 sec out of top 10. If I had pre-rode the course, I feel confident I would have gotten top 10. It’s fun that it’s so tight and competitive. This is my 4th or 5th year racing (I thought I had been racing 5 years, but for some reason, it might be 4) and I am still learning the hard way. Eh well.
It’s still blatantly obvious that I don’t have that top end, but it’ll come. I think the XC tomorrow will go better, and my legs are warmed up now. I’m starting my race season ice bath ritual tonight too. Niiiice. Plastic Super 8 Motel bathtub. Sounds like heaven.
Oh yes, and negative comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted so don’t waste your breath. This website is for fun, not a forum. Keep your Negatrons in check. haha
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see more crazy cat pics
see more crazy cat pics
see more crazy cat pics
see more crazy cat pics