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Bad Group Ride~RBM~North Ride

Last Saturday we decide to head towards the Dallas Area to ride with the girls in their neck of the woods. We head to Michelle's and ride towards the group that leaves the RichardsonBikeMart Shop. Boy, this ride was Crazy from the Start! It was a huge group, and we hit lights every other intersection, yes we are riding "IN TOWN".The riders fail to mention "Slowing" Stopping, etc. So, of course, I am "warning" the riders behind me, no one wants to get rear ended! Yikes. And this is by no means a "casual" pace. I mean, it is a sprint from light to the next. Well, this gets bad. As I just mention to Tracie, "that I can't see a thing in front of me" . So, all of a sudden, I barely miss a barricade, apparently the road narrowed and shifted over to the left. Well, all of the riders in mid pack and beyond were crammed into a small area fast. Going 25mph, Kim Chance T-bones a barricade comes off and some others crash. Of course, not knowing at the time, who went down, but knew several from behind the crash stopped. A good thing, two riders in the back were paramedics and called 911, and were able to stabilize Kim's neck. She broke her C1 & C2 in her neck. This is so scary! The ride after the crash did not get much better, even at the end when, only a handful were left. Boy, someone needs to teach these Dallas boys how to ride. I have been pretty spoiled riding in Flower Mound, where the group rides are monitored and everyone has respect for other riders. We point out turns/stops/holes or whatever may need to be announced. Kim Chance is an Expert Mountain Biker, so it is not like she has no handling skills. Watch out ! I hope the RBM people can learn from this, and make some positive changes. As for me, I will no longer go on that ride!

I got my upgrade!

Yipee! I am now a Pro Roadie! I recieved my upgrade from USA Cycling today!!

Fort Davis~Race Reports

Day 2-Friday


Not much sleep but I am very "Amped" because, the team starts to arrive. We all get settled and get out for a ride . I spin my legs first on my Giant, then, get the borrowed TT bike ready for a ride, thank you Bryan Wadie for the Loaner! I would say she worked out great, but I really stunk at the time trial. I would definitely say, you need to spend some quality time on the TT prior to racing it. It's is kinda hard when you are Mountain bike racing and road racing every weekend. Saturday Time Trail : Tammy was first to go from the team then, Michelle , myself (Smith) and then, Tracie. Now, this is the first time I have ever done a tt race on a tt bike. "Good Luck" . Tammy and Tracie did very well, they both looked very comfortable during the race. Yes, I got to see both, first was when team mate Tracie passed me during the tt, and then, I noticed Tammy as she was heading back after the turn around. I should have been focusing on my tt, But, that is the thing, I totally lost focus. As I Hated the position. I wanted to stand up and sprint . I kept thinking if I was on my mtb , I could do this. But, this is nothing like the mtb. So, yes I did very poorly on the TT , and started out a stage race very behind in points. That is okay. because I had two other team mates with much better times. I am not sure if I will do this again, but assure you . I will come back to redeem myself.

Fort Davis

We decide to head out Thursday afternoon,2:00p.m well, that was the initial plan. RK is stuck in Traffic only 2 exits from Tammy's. Meanwhile, I am on my way.. running behind though, I get the redirected route to Tammy's . So, we finally get there, 2:45 p.m. and we are looking at all the "Stuff" that is suppose to fit in the car. We have 3 people, 5 bikes and 4 bike racks. So, one bike will need to go into the Subaru. My Giant has the integrated seat post, so that is out of the question. Tammy and Kim, "I can't take my seat post off" . Okay... So, we decide to take one of the bike racks off of Tammy's car to place on my car. Along with the other two bikes ,space saver all on top of the car. What is the weight limit for a Subaru? 100 lbs..? Though, the bike has to be placed backwards on the car, to fit next to my bike. Now we have more room in the car. We finally get all loaded up and head out 4:00 p.m. make our first stop, 4:05 pm to get Ice. Which, happened to be in the back of the car, so we had to unload the bikes off the back to get to the coolers to add ice. Load the bikes back on and were off. 4:20p.m. We get on I20 heading West. And the wind is a gusting 30mph , it is soo Windy. I am keeping an eye on the bikes. Still very nervous, I decide to pull over and just do a bike check. Everything is fastly secured. So, back to it. 5 minutes later, I am looking in the mirror and I see Tammy's Bike Fly OFF The CAR. I PULL OVER, and we run out, see her bike laying in the fast lane. Meanwhile, another vehicle who witnessed it all, pulled over to the left, and is running back to the bike, and Drags the bike out of the way, just in time to be saved from the Semi Trucks. Thank God. We get to the bike, and believe it or not, It is all in tact. Looks good. The saddle is torn up , hoods are bent inwards, and the wheel seems to be out of true, and the derailler hanger is bent. So, 5:00p.m We place the bike in the back seat, Tammy jumps in the front with Kim and we head to Colonel's . 5:15p.m. Get to Colonels and Tim works on the injured bike. 5:30 pm , Tammy decides to stay back with her bike and hitch's a ride to Fort Davis. 5:45 pm Kim and I decide to head on out. On the road now, 6:00 p.m. About this time, is when Kim realizes she lost her retainers when we stopped off of I20 earlier. So, we thought, well, we will go back to the scene of the crime, and our only knowledge of location was from the highly littered area we had walked thru , back to our car earlier. So, we stop and what do you know.. Kim finds her lower retainer!! Places it back into her mouth.. it is still good, she replies. she continues to look for the upper retainer, no luck. so We decide to hit the road. Were in the car and our way. ETA is 1:30 A.M, Actual arrival time, 3:40 a.m. Bed Time 4:00 a.m. Oh, and Kim finds her other retainer in the Car. They say bad luck is better then no Luck at all. Stay tuned for more..

I have learned..

Some things I have learned as a Cyclist.

1. Time goes by very Slow when taking an ICE BATH.
2. It helps to drink Coffee while taking an Ice Bath
3 If you think you may need a massage, You better get one, prior to your race.
4. While traveling with your bike on the roof rack, be sure the bike is placed forwards. note to self, not to place the bike with the saddle facing the front of the car.
While racing..
5. Not everyone has bike handling Skills.

Feel free to Add to the list.. (by adding a comment to this post )

Palo Pinto Race Report

The Women that are out racing this year, are really out racing. So, different from the past years of Womens racing in Texas. Better Competition ? I guess .. Their are some really strong girls out there and I hope to continue to see the Women come out and race. We all started to work together from the start so it was very Fair , this makes it easier when you are riding into the strong Winds that Texas racing seems to bring. I am very impressed with our Lone Star Works racing team. Annick (AT&T) decided to attack as we were approaching the feed zone, (personally, I think this is wrong) . She was quickly joined by Christina Moore (Austin Flyers) and they worked together , so of course it was up to Lone Star Works to chase them down, and that We Did. We get to the climb, (which, I wasn't sure if it Was THE Climb) As Tracie informs me, it's a long climb. I thought she had said, it was not the Climb, though, it worked out better. She set the pace up the Climb, and I looked back, And the field was gone. We had a Huge Gap. We get to the top, and Tracie takes off. She was able to Solo it in from the top of the climb for the Win, and I solo' d it for 2nd and Tammy was able to sprint in from the chasers. Michelle ended up in 8th place.

Thanks Tim! And the rest of the Gang at Colonel's

The Giant needed some attention after Saturday's race. So, Toby and I headed to Colonel's Bicycle shop in Ft. Worth for some major TLC for the TCR! Tim is one of the mechanics at Colonels and is one of the best mechanics around. He is very Thorough, and takes very much pride in his Work. Not only did he take care of my bike, but he also worked on Toby's bike, as someone ran into his derailler on the sprint finish. Luckily he didn't go down! Thanks again Tim!

LoneStarWorks.com Race Reports

Lone Star Works had an Awesome Weekend Of Racing. The Lone Star Works Women's racing team took the top three spots for both days of racing. On the Dirt, My Clients all had podium finishes as well. Bibi Martinez Won the Women's Expert Category and Ranger Kim also Won her expert Class. Mike Norman had his first 2nd place finish. And Steve remains as one of the top contenders in his division with a 5th place finish at Warda. Race Report for Saturday's Road Race in Possum Kingdom The course was a beautiful route, the Women's race did two 24 mile loops. At the climb, Tracie A. jumped on the climb, meanwhile I was stuck in the back, so I decided to wait and get a ride up to her, as we made it up the top of the climb, Chris Wolfe from San Hose, tried to bridge up, so I jumped on her wheel bridged up to Tracie and then it was followed by two counters in a row, by Smith and Mini Pizzini, the two had created a gap and a break, which was joined by Michelle Montoya,aka M&M and we were quickly pulling through and then, joined by Tracie Ak. (Wow!!) We had a break for a while, but we would eventually get caught . So, the main group stays away until another attempt by Pizzini, Wolfe managed to bridge up with Smith on her wheel. then, a major slow up and Wolfe moving right, took Smith's wheel out. The field went around and I got up quickly to chase back to the group. Of course, this time I looked down and opened up the break lever, which was rubbing on the wheel. I noticed the group ahead and making attacks. With less then, 2 miles from the finish, I managed to get back on. We ended up with a Sprint Finish. I squeezed in between two riders, noticed Tracie on the right, Lead me out for the Win, and Tracie came in 2nd and MM 3rd. Tammy ended up with a 6th place finish.

Day 2 Rain, Manda Road Race

The rain started early for us today, a 7:55 a.m. Start. Not my ideal time to race, but we had brought along the Orbea mountain bikes to get a ride in after the road race. Didn't expect we would be doing a bit of mtb'ing in the race. In Toby's race he ended up going off the road into a cornfield, managed to get right back into the race without putting a foot down.
Luckily the women's race had no crashes. The roads were wet and the course involved several turns through out the race, made the course for a very technical ride.
We had a descent field size, as they combined the women for an open race. The break that stuck was probably about half way through the race. Christina Moore made an attack, and no one went, I seized the opportunity when we had two turns approaching. I jumped before the corner and yelled as I was approaching for Moore to jump on, she couldn't react at the time. I decided to keep on going through the second corner. Of course, I had chasers and as soon as they arrived, I heard Daniele S. yell, "Christina, PoP It", so I did. And jumped again and we were Off. Kate Sherwin, Chris Wolfe, myself and then joined by Natalie Klemko. We all rotated through as the chase group followed closely behind. Team mate, Bibi was the only cat 4 in the chase group. Way to Go Bibi!! As we approached the finishing stretch Chris W. attacked and we bridged up fast , though, we had stopped pulling thru. I looked back, I noted the field and Natalie suggested we still pull thru. We pulled thru a bit, but then Chris W. and Natalie stopped pulling thru. So, Kate was pulling and I was waiting for the jump, which I figured it would come from behind. But, we got closer and Kate decided to go for it. I was on the right and started to go, but noticed there wasn't that much room to the right, so I decided to back off and go to the left and ended up having to throw my bike out in front of me to the line. I missed it by a hair! I should have Jumped. But, I am learning! No one came around . Kate with the win and I took 2nd, Klemko 3rd . The chase group sprinted in and Bibi finished 11th overall. Way to Go Beebs! Thanks again, Colonels for the Awesome Giant and Kenda tires, and Gu energy gels.