Final Days of Preparation

One more day until Nationals start! I got a good track workout in on Monday. I pretty much just worked on starts and the line for the mass start test. My starts have gotten so much better, I'm really happy with it. My mass start test on the other hand, is crazy. The first 500m is so fast, I'm gonna have to have everything go right to get close to it.

I went on a recovery ride down to Redondo Beach today with Bob. It was really nice to just get out on the road and chill. We went to this really nice coffee shop, and relaxed, which prepared me for the laundry mishap that happened this afternoon. My Dad was being nice and decided to wash my bike clothes for me. Unfortunatly, he washed them in warm water and made the colors run, so all of my kits were pink. I do love pink, just not where it doesnt belong, haha. Luckily, my dad found some color taker outer and we used that and it corrected the damage.

Tomorrow is race prep, then packet pick-up. I am so ready to start racing.

California!

I seriously wish I could live here. This is the best weather ever. It's hot but not too hot, it's not humid, it's sunny, it doesn't rain. What more could you ask for? Except for roads to ride on and maybe a backyard.

I got in yesterday around 3:30. Traveling with a bike is no fun. It was so difficult to get it checked and then trying to maneuver it while we were trying to catch the shuttle, it was crazy. My back is so shot from carrying bags and everything. The plane ride was lovely though. I got to watch House and Confessions of A Shopaholic, so I was happy. Once we got our car we headed to our hotel. It's so close to the track which makes it super convenient.

I got on the track today. I love it so much! It's so fast and smooth, I'm in no rush to return to T-Town. My legs are sluggish from flying, but I should get over that soon. I think that my form is good and I'm excited to see what I can achieve out here.

Tonight I'm going to watch the Junior Omnium at the track and see how they do it on the West Coast. Tomorrow I have a track session in the afternoon and then Tuesday I'm riding to Redondo Beach with Bob in the morning. I'm pretty pumped to get on the road, actually.

That's my quick update. Nothing too exciting yet, that all starts on Thursday!

It's here!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for LA! It feels like I should have so much more time because Nationals were so late last year. I really wish I had more time this year. I've put 110% into this, but I know if I had a little more time it would make a huge difference. I know that I have done everything right and I just have to make sure I race with my head.

I'll give you a quick rundown of my racing schedule:

July 2nd
AM: 500m TT
Mass Start Test ( A flying 2k that could qualify me for worlds)

PM: Scratch Race

July 3rd
AM: Team Sprint Qualification (still looking for a partner!)

PM: Team Sprint Finals

July 4th
AM: Pursuit Qualifers and Final

PM: Keirin Qualifer and Final

July 5th
AM: Points Race

I put in a good race on Tuesday. There are two more girls from New Zealand who arrived on Monday, and Cath Cheatly came back this season so it was real racing! It was good to actually have a field.

I'll try and update this daily while I'm at Nationals, but sometimes things get a little crazy!

11 Days To Go!

I can't believe that Nationals are so close. It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was just doing my first race of the season. I will be flying out the morning of the 27th and racing starts July 2nd. I have been working so hard the past couple of days. May Britt's been pushing me so hard. I did a 30 lap points race behind the motor with Ryan and Nick on Monday. I honestly didn't think it was going to be that bad... boy, was I wrong! I couldn't see straight for an hour!

Yesterday, I motorpaced in the morning and then I did Tuesday Night Racing. Over the past two years, Tuesday nights have become much more intense. It used to be that a Tuesday was nothing like a Friday Night Race, but now they are easily comparable. Anyways, my legs were pretty tired from Monday and the session in the morning, so I didn't have alot to play with. I got 6th in the Super Sprint Elimination (which is 1/2 miss'n'out 1/2 scratch race). I almost made it to the scratch race this time, but I tried to shove myself on the bottom again, and it didn't work... again. For the Tempo, I really just tried to sit in and get some speed in. After that we had a Flying One Mile, May Britt told me to not even worry about it, but I ended up getting Dana's wheel and sprinting to 5th place. The final race of the night was a Points Race. I got 1 point on the last lap, but that was pretty much all I could do. I'm not really worried about my form. I know that two weeks out from nationals last year I was suffering, and it paid off. I trust May Britt, she knows what she's doing.

On the line before the one mile.

Dana and I are going to be in California at the same time! I'm so happy because I'm the only member of Young Medalists/Team Dual Temp heading out to track nationals, it will be nice to have an honorary team mate and training partner for a few days. We're hoping to go and watch the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix and check out the SoCal race scene... and of course see Iggy.... hahaha =)

It's been awhile....

It has been quite awhile since I've done this. I think I started off too strong and then got bored. Since it's summer and all it does in PA lately is rain, I think I'll try this again?

This time in two weeks I'll be in California for Junior Track Nationals. The weather hasn't been cooperating with my training though. It has rained almost every day, it is a little ridiculous. We have been getting some racing in, though. There's been three Tuesday Night Races and we just finished up our second Friday. I haven't had a lot of good results, but they have been improving with each race, so I'm hopeful for Nationals.

Opening Night at the track could have been better. It got rained out on Friday, so it ended up being Saturday. I raced at the Race Avenue Criterium in Lancaster in the morning. It ended up being my most successful 1/2/3 race by far. For the first time since Junior Nationals, I felt like I was in a field that was actually my level. It was so nice to be able to race instead of hanging on for dear life. I was in the front of the field most of the time. I tried a few attacks, I got off for a lap, which is the only break away I've ever been in, and had 5 seconds on the field. I got caught, but I was still pretty proud of it. I set the sprint up pretty well. I was 3rd wheel coming around turn 4. I got nipped at the line, and had to settle for 4th. Overall, it was pretty good and I made $60 which was very nice. I'm planning on hitting it up again next year, it was a wonderful course and a well run race. Afterwards, I went home, ate, showered, took a nap, and then set off to the track. Since the racing got moved to Saturday, a lot of girls weren't there because they were preparing for the Liberty Classic on Sunday. It ended up being only 8 girls. Being so close to nationals, I wasn't content to roll around the boards for 15 laps. I raced really hard, which didn't result in the best finishes, but I got my workout in for the day! Most of the people in T-Town went to watch the Philly race. Honestly, I couldn't bring myself to do it. It is always a great time, but knowing that I could've raced but was unable to because of the accident made it bittersweet, and I really didn't want to go through that. Instead, I stayed home and put in some more road miles so I can be in a postion to race in the Liberty Classic next year.

The Festival of Speed this past Friday was largely uneventful. I didn't make the Keirin Final or have any other really outstanding results. I went off the front with Kim Geist in the Point-a-Lap and picked up one point which ended up getting me 5th place.

I have pretty much made up my mind to scratch road racing for the season. With the timing of the accident, I just didn't have time to work on my form. I will be concentrating on road when I get back from nationals and may be attending Kristin Armstrong's Developmental Camp in Boise to work on some of my road form and help me to decide whether or not I'm going to make the trip to Oregon for Road Nationals.

Dana has finally returned from California! I am so glad to have her back, I can only handle so many training sessions alone. Unfortunately, she leaves again for LA on Thursday, but I'll be there for a couple days while she's there, so that should be fun.

Well, I think that's it for now. I'll try and keep it up this time.