I haven’t posted in a while, but here is a quick run down of the past couple months…

After finishing up a last and very cold cyclocross race in Bend I headed south.

Drove through California, stopping in San Francisco a couple days to visit a friend and ride the hilly streets of the bay.  I arrived in Santa Fe to cold and snowy mountains and knew I was in for some long hours at the gym.  For the next couple weeks of Christmas and New Years I got a few days outside but spent a lot of time on the trainer, running and doing some weights/gym work.  I really enjoy lifting and doing supplemental exercises, it helps me feel stronger and balanced.

But after 3 weeks and the holidays come and gone, I was ready to pack up and get to Arizona.  I was instantly filled with excitement as I drove into Tucson and even at 9 at night I was ready to get my bike out and go for a ride when I arrived.  But for the sake of not crashing or getting in an accident my first 10min in paradise I held off.

Unfortunately the second I drove in I also felt the oncoming feeling of sickness, like a cold… booo.  So for the following week I dealt with wanting to get out and ride for hours and hours but also needing to rest and get over the cold.

But once I got better there was nothing else stopping me.  I have been here almost 3 weeks now, and it feels amazing.  To get out in shorts and a t-shirt again in the middle of January when everyone else is huddled inside and spinning lakes of sweat onto the floor around their trainer is something priceless.

This last weekend I raced in my first crit of the season.  Ill spare the boring details, but essentially I felt great and got 3 of 4 prims but in the last 15 minutes between prims and the finish I seemed to have fallen asleep.  Because when 2 laps to go was called I made no effort to maintain my top 5 position and then as half a lap to go came I finally came to my senses to move up, but girls were all over the place with their bikes and it was too late.

I was mad at my stupidity and so I took it out by racing in the men’s 3/4 race only 45 min. after.  It was so much fun and I rode harder to stay near the front.  I don’t have the sprinter legs of the guys, but I had no problem staying in it and working the last couple laps to hold a good position.

For next season I will be racing for Team Cloud Racing.  It is going to be a solid team with 8 elite riders to race in NRC and NCCs across the country.  We will have Scott as our sponsor and my team bike, helmet, and shoes are AMAZING!!  The sponsorship and support of this team is going to be great and we will look great racing and training.

I am excited for the season ahead and am having a great time training out her in Tucson.  Never tired of the blue sky and sunshine!