I officially had my best day on the bike 8/13/08… one of those epic close to 5 hours in the saddle with my body and legs feeling crazy amazing. I’m loving my new location in Denver and finally getting my head around these darn bike paths. On Wed. I went to Deer Creek Canyon Rd. and then up Highgrade and felt as though I was flying…
I forgot to mention - day two of the breaker workout includes 10 x 3-5 minute tempo hill repeats. PUKE!
But you know what kept me going after nearly being side swiped by a speeding SUV? The knowledge that a champion is made a day at a time.
Oh - and in the AM I attended a MVA board meeting, followed by a hour workout in the gym. For the first time in weeks -my little mantra I write on the chalk board in the basketball gym wasn’t erased.
This is an article written at the beginning of 2008 by the former team director of PROMAN Giana Roberge who is now expecting her first baby.
Does PROMAN Women’s Team have what it takes to win? (insert your team name here)
As the 2008 pre-season begins and thoughts turn toward racing, it is time to evaluate the PROMAN recipe for success. What makes a cycling team or any partnership successful? Everyone knows that cycling is about teamwork, but what is the essence of teamwork? Why does one partnership win when another blessed with the same quality equipment, talent, and financial support not see the same successes?
Bike racing is inherently dangerous. We travel at fast speeds with little to no skin protection and take corners faster than most would ever dream of, next to and behind other racers. Something can happen in front of you that you have no control over and your immediate reaction can have immediate consequences in your general well being. We are all reliant on the people we’re racing with and next too have equipment that won’t fail - whether that be a tire slipping off the rim, a head set coming lose at the wrong time, a seat post failing, carbon cracking, etc. And then there’s the pilot errors that can happen - coming into a corner too hot, clipping a pedal, breaking too quickly, etc. So each time you line up to race - you hope that everything goes well but at the same time, you did sign a big old waiver from USA cycling saying you understand and accept the danger you are potentially placing yourself in.
Every sunny day I thank my lucky stars for having the legs to ride my bike, the lungs to get me from point A to point B and the warmth to keep my joints happy. Summer is my favorite time of year - and I try to make the most of each moment because winter is coming…
I learned a valuable lesson this weekend while attempting the Washington State Individual Time Trial. Thankfully this lesson was a new one to me - and one I certainly will NOT repeat.
Passion, Patience, Persevere… these are the three main words that allowed me the opportunity to not only make it through my recovery but to come out of it stronger and more focused as a person and a athlete. The last entry I wrote was about my training for the 2008 season well if you aren’t aware, I was in a pretty nasty crash at the Tour of Gila where I ended up breaking my pelvis in three (my lucky number) places. After a “fun” airplane flight to El Paso where the doctors initially thought I was going to need surgery, I wake up finding out that I was in another state and possibly going under the knife! It was all a whirlwind but luckily I had my coach Michael Engleman there by my side until my mother could fly across the US to help. I ended up not needing surgery and my mom was there to fly me back to SC to start my recovery process. It was a long 3 months of highs and lows, pain medications and crutches for most of it but in hind sight more positive things like seeing my sister Candice graduate from Grad School, attending a friends wedding, and many more. These are all important events in my life that I would’ve missed if I had been racing.
My legs feel like lead weights this morning. The only relief is elevating them and just chilling. The prescribed 2 hour TT ride with some VO2 efforts thrown in the mix should help - but it also sounds painful at this point. 
This is just a quick photo/video mashup from animoto that I created as I finally got my pictures off my blackberry. These are all from a “new” hiking trail above the Northshore of Lake Whatcom and a quick Mt. Bike ride up Chuckanut Ridge (sorry no Galbraith photos this time). It is short, enjoy:
I posted a bunch of Photos from B.C. Super Week taken by Photographer Greg Descantes. www.descantes.com. Check them out on the flickr page or on my photos page.
