How to get attention at Hilton Head Island on a crowded Fourth-of-July-week at the beach:
Couldn’t sleep in this morning as I was so excited about the week’s conclusion. Miranda and I made the history books yesterday by becoming the first women’s FIAC 6-Day National Champions. We got received national jerseys (slightly different than USA Cycling’s), medals and the Assos rep kicked in a killer 6-Day set. Stoked!
And one thing is for sure - I’m really looking forward to this week’s rest week!
The Live Your Passion team is at the Pacific Crest Weekend Sports Festival this weekend, promoting our eco-friendly shirts, and cheering on all the athletes.
Our own Joe Hiss, Cyndi Schieber, and Josh Mather are all competing in events.
The Sunriver, Oregon, location is fantastic. The town is very welcoming to all the participants and spectators, and the weather, food (and drink), and live music are a real blast.
In the process of trying to rip other peoples legs off tonight, I in turn ripped my own off. Won all three races tonight - including my specialty - the miss and out. In the Madison we lapped a tired field and I’m too tired to type… headed to bed and will give you the gory details in the morning…
Fatigue settled into the legs today. The first race, a 9 lap scratch felt like I was pedaling with brick columns for legs. Andrea had an excellent move on the field, taking a high flier on the group with 2 to go and holding off a charging field for the win. I was boxed in for about a 1/2 of lap - wiggled my way out and then charged toward the finish with some not-so-zippy track legs for 2nd. Miranda did well too - coming in 4th. Go Veloforma!
What a weekend. The Elkhorn Classic in Baker City, Oregon was a blast. It was definitely the hardest race I have ridden. Beginning with the hot, dry 70 mile Oregon Trail Road Race in stage 1, we were treated with difficult races throughout our 3 days in Eastern Oregon. Each stage seemed to be designed to fulfill every bike racer’s constant need for suffering on the bike! :)
That’s my new nickname after tonight’s Madison. Some Assos rep came up to Miranda and I and told us nice job Quadzilla. It’s okay to laugh. 
I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Seriously though - Veloforma is off to a kick ass start. Miranda and I rocked the house with a Madison Pursuit time of 4:33, and then placed second in the Madison. Not bad for our first hand slinging contests. We recognized some weaknesses and some areas to work on - and honed it for tonight.
I have made the long haul from Durango back up North to Pocatello, Idaho and my old stomping grounds. I have a couple of weeks inbetween races and decided that it would be a good time to get up here for some training with no distractions. Durango can be to much fun after a block of racing. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy having a good time, but sometimes I get carried away. One night of fun turns into a week long bender and some road rash from crashing on the town bike.
While I hadn’t previously participated in a yoga mala—a practice of 108 sun salutations, in this case to celebrate the solstice—I found it was a very familiar endurance experience. I felt great once we got up to speed, rhythmically repeating the pattern of asana (inhale, up; exhale, down . . . ); I rationed my energy, particularly in the third set; I repeatedly returned to form and breath; I kept up my electrolytes; I joyfully opened the throttle in the fourth and final set, abandoning the modifications I’d implemented in the first three rounds of 27, moving deeply into the poses, closing my eyes to see how it felt on the inside. (OK, I don’t do that last bit in a race!) I happily sunk into savasana at the end, briefly noticing that it felt like lying on the grass in the sunshine after a well-run race.
Our friend Leslie Dopp at Kokopelli River Guides, a great guide service and shop in Ashland, Oregon, wrote the following essay and we wanted to share it with everyone:
It’s a day off from the river. As I sit at my computer doing a little work I notice that I have a sticker posted to my bulletin board in my office. It reads “Live Your Passion”.
