race report on the way (I promise)

I started my race report on Monday but I'm T-I-R-E-D and sooooo busy this week. Hopefully I can finish it tonight.

Here's a little something to tide you over until then. Apparently there used to be a naked water stop on the long course (staffed by Cal Poly students). After that was eliminated, the students began a tradition of taking a Saturday evening "streak" through all the campsites. Like a moth to a flame, I tried not to look but couldn't help myself. There were boys and girls and things jiggling that shouldn't jiggle. The oddest was a young asian boy who was completely hairless, except a tropical pubic forest. Ewwww!

we won!

that's cool. more tomorrow. I'm really tired now.

oh, I cut over 10 minutes from my bike split from Wednesday -- yay me. I rode hard and had just about a perfect race.

another oh, apparently we not only won the masters women relay, we also beat all the non-masters women by over 10 minutes!

more wildflower prep

pick up clean bike from bike shop -- check!

sleeping bag -- check!

trainer -- check!

pinata -- check!

tortillas -- check!

salsa -- check!

since Kim and I are driving down tomorrow (and we both were pretty free today), Janet tasked us with bringing Saturday's dinner. we originally decided on a traditional pasta-kinda meal, but then creativity struck and I persuaded Kim that we should celebrate Cinco de Mayo, complete with pinata and mexican music on the ipod. so, tonight I'm chopping tomatos and cooking chicken and beef. maybe I'll pack later.

free speed (or how to make your bike light and aero)

step #1 -- clean it. okay, I keep my bikes pretty clean, but digging a pound of gunk out of the pulley wheels will definitely make you go faster.

step #2 -- change from heavy powertap training wheels to carbon tubulars. while I'd love to pace with power on Sunday, I'd rather use my super-slick race wheels.

step #3 -- remove the saddle bag (small but heavy with one tube, 2 CO2 cartridges, 1 CO2 adaptor, 2 tire levers, a patch kit and a pair of tweezers).

step #4 -- remove two of three computers. yeah, I don't need a bike computer with cadence, a powertap, and the garmin. not only do they add weight, but the cables make the bike less aero (even though I've got them taped to the down tube). don't forget to remove spoke and crank magnets, too!

step #5 -- remove one bottle cage. yeah, I'd like to do this race on Sunday without a bottle, but the reality is that I don't deal with heat well and having a little caloric boost will just make me faster. and, there is evidence that having one bottle is more aero than having no bottles.

step #6 -- add wings!!!

so, my 18.5 pound bike (with all the excess crap) weighed in at just under 16 pounds -- not bad for a tall girl.

it sounded like such a great idea in january

one of my teammates wanted to put together a relay team for the Wildflower Triathlon. I jumped at the chance! afterall, it would break up the monotony of mtn bike and road racing, and there are really hot guys who do tri and you get to see them half naked. and Wildflower is a big party -- a weekend of camping and racing and debauchery, right?

yeah, right! Wildflower is a big hoo-haw (no, not that hoo-haw, VB). it's expensive (all tri's are), it's a logistical challenge, it's a hard course. yeah, that's right! the course is friggin' hard! it's hilly and windy and bumpy.

so, today I decided to head down to lovely Lake San Antonio and pre-ride the course. I wanted to decide which bike to race (tt or road), gearing, pacing, etc. and it was going to rain in the bay area and be sunny there, so why not?

the course is definitely challenging. you begin with a one-mile 9% climb out of the transistion area and then lots of "rollers." the rollers aren't really rolling, but who's complaining. there are definitely some challenging grades but also some nice descents where you can easily hit 40+ mph. and the pavemnt's not that bad. and I saw 1,000s of turkey vultures and 100s of deer (most laying down -- I think they get fed well at good old Lake San Antonio). of course, there will be 1,000s of moving obstacles (ie other riders) on race day.

long story short, not recovered from last night's intervals, with no warm-up, with nothing aero or lightweight on my bike, in a big-ass swirly cross-wind, wearing a shimmel and my bibs blowing in the wind (oops), I beat last year's winning masters women's relay bike split by almost a minute and I was 4 minutes off the pace for the 2005 winner (in a year when there was no wind). can't wait to see what I can do with the carbon tubulars, skinsuit, booties, spaceballs helmet and fresh legs!

amazingly enough, this isn't my kind of course -- I logged almost 1,900' of climbing with many of the climbs settling in at 9-10%. or maybe it is my kind of course now.