End of year Highlights

Yes, it HAS been a VERY long time since I wrote a blog... But I have finally found time to write some quick highlights of my last few races.

OK, I will start at the Challenge Challenge RR. So there was only one other W4 besides me, so we got to race with the pros. I met a couple very nice pros that gave me some helpful tips (also, I won my category)! Folsom Cyclebration, Henleyville RR, and Oakland Grand Prix,were a blast as I had a great teammate to work with.

Folsom Cyclebration, I placed 6th overall. Henleyville RR, I experienced my first break  in a 54 mile road race and finished 5th. For Oakland Grand Prix (my last race of the season), I was able to get in my first solo break for a few laps. I snagged a prime, but sadly went into my spacers on the last lap, so I lost some positioning, but finished 11th.

Team TIBCO has been such a great support to me all season from team owner Linda Jackson who never hesitates to give a quick email of  "Great job Aliya", to my pro mentor Megan Guarnier who always takes time to talk to me and check in at the races. Jr director Felicia Gomez for her amazing pep talks at Nationals. And of course, the great racing with Team TIBCO II all season long.

I  want to thank Sports LTD and The Bicycle Wheel. These two shops have never failed to keep me race ready!

Rodney Cox of R.A.C.E events helped to create the cycling junkie I have become, through his local events....thank you a million times over Rodney!!

Next, I want to thank EVERYBODY from Chico who helped me get to Nationals this year. I would not have been able to go without you guys!

My stepdad Mark, the funniest and most patient coach ever and my mom for keeping us all on schedule.

I met some really special, and totally awesome women this year, at the NCNCA races, who have really helped me achieve some of my goals and dreams. All of the  'Great Job!'s, and, 'Keep it going's, have really encouraged me to pursue what I love to do! I thank all of you for your support.

I enter next season as a Cat 3..... this should be another exciting adventure!

"Bless those who fall off and get back on again!"-Rachel Wolford (Traficante)

 Every time I would fall off a horse, my Mom would always make me ride it again. Every time I fell, I would get back in the saddle. So when I crashed at the Davis 4th of July crit, the first thing I thought about doing (after I got over the shock of crashing) was to hop on my bike and proceed to race. After realizing that I could NOT get back in my saddle again, because it was totally bent, I felt like I was going to explode and burst into millions of pieces. I was mad. And frustrated. I cried. One of my objectives, after nationals, was to become more aware of my positioning when I race. I came to the Davis crit, yearning to begin to master my new goal, and I couldn't. This is what most upset me, when I crashed out.

I was eager for my next race, the Lodi Crit. Most people would think that I would feel a little intimidated, in fear that I might crash again, I didn't.  I wanted to race and I wanted to start achieving my goal. I wasn't going to let the fear of crashing get in my way. Crashing is part of this sport, you either deal with it and know its going to happen, or you run home with your tail in-between your legs!!!

The Lodi course was fun to race, it had 8 corners and looked like a figure-eight! The night before the race, Mark and I went out to practice cornering skills, that are very essential to know, especially with this type of course. Learning thoughs skills definitely helped me the next day. I was close to the front the whole race, and ended up getting 10th place (I also won 7 bucks)!

The thing is, when I race, and do well in the race... I WANT TO RACE MORE!!! I was supposed to take last weekend off from racing, that didn't happen! I ended up down in Berkeley, last Sunday, racing the Berkeley crit. Now this course is also fun! It is simply 4 corners, but within the 4 corners is a false flat, a smallish climb and a downhill section. The start/finish line is on the down hill section, after the first turn you run into the false flat. If you do not pedal through the second corner, and get up out of the saddle, that little hill on the back side of the course, is going to feel a lot harder then it looks! After you go around the 3rd turn you begin to slightly go downhill, then the 4th corner brings you to the start/finish line.

I am proud to say that in most races I am in the first 5 people, working the race, but I am prouder to say that I REALLY worked my BUTT off in this race! As usual, I was in the top 5 people most of the time. The rest of the time I was either, pulling the group, attacking, counter attacking, or covering attacks! Until the last two laps, I was working. The last two laps were fast! I lost the positioning I wanted to have, but still came in 7th place!

I learned a lot from those races, and after the Berkeley crit, I am even more on fire to race again, soon. Even though I was not physically back in the saddle, after I crashed at Davis, I already mentally was; and it paid off in my last two races.

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Nationals!

Confidence is what I felt before Nationals. All year long I have been training for these three days I would race against girls from all over the country. I did not know how strong the girls I would race against were,  but I knew my own strength; which was more valuable.

The first  race was the road race. I felt excited beforehand, not nervous. I also felt confident. Soon after the whistle blew and the race had begun, my excited, confident feeling began to fade. I began to feel  apprehensive and jumpy. Some of the girls were very scary to ride behind. The random lateral movements caused me to feel apprehensive and I soon found myself jumping at every sudden movement. Girls were screaming and crashing all around me. There were many times when I, also, came close to crashing. Every now and then I'd get boxed in and feel like I couldn't move.

 Apprehension had consumed my mind. I let all of that chaos get to me, instead of doing something about it. What could I have done differently? Well, I could have said, "I'm not going to let their crazy riding get to me!" and then could have found out a way to get to the front of the peleton and stay there. I received 13th place when I rolled in across the finish line. By the end of the day, I knew what I was going to do differently for the criterium: stay on the front and keep the pace fast.

I was very relieved that the time trial was the next day. I would be on my own and I liked that idea especially after my experience at the road race. I just needed a day out on my own, to recollect. The day of the time trial dawned. It began to rain when I was warming up, but as I got off the trainer, the sun came out. The weather was perfect. I was ready to ride.

There was a lot of time before my start so I moseyed on down to where the roll-out would be. Most of the other girls were there, also. I struck up a conversation with a girl who rode for Frazier Cycling. In mid conversation, my race number was called. I scooted my bike over to the man who called my number, and he rolled out my bike, then I sat in line.

The first girl was off! Then in 30 second intervals two more girls took of before it was my turn. I was called up, I took a deep breath and exhaled. I pushed my bike up to the starting line. The seconds seemed to draw on like hours, I was anxious to be released into, what was going to be the hardest 10k in my life.

Then suddenly there was only 10 seconds to go. The last 10 seconds seemed to fly by a little too quickly! My eyes were glued on the clock. 5, 4, 3, 2, and precisely at 1, I gave a large HEAVE and was off and rolling! I did not have my cycling computer so I don't know what my exact speed was, but I was going fast, that's for sure! I was amazed, already in the first half mile two girls were in sight! Soon I zipped past them. In a couple more minutes, another girl was in eyesight, and in know time at all, I was past her.
I could see it, it was small but growing larger; it was the finish line. I pushed harder and harder, my speed kept excelling; and soon, I was also, past the finish line. 4th to start, and 1st back.

I slowly cruised around to cool down then went back to the finish line to find my parents. I was currently 3rd. I was excited and just kept hoping the results would stay the same. What happened next was like a dream, girl after girl came speeding in and it was difficult to watch the clock and see if their time had beat mine or not. I was pushed back into 6th place. The most frustrating part was that the girl in 5th place was only 3 seconds ahead of me... 3 SECONDS!!! Well that's time trialing for you, every little second counts.

Afterwards, I was a little disappointed, but soon realized that all of the other girls who placed ahead of me were on time trial bikes. If there was a Merchx's division at nationals, I would have placed 1st!!! I also realized, my time was not to far behind the 1st place winner! After that, I was proud of my time!

My plan for the criterium was to keep the race fast and get a top 10 finish. I accomplished both! I'd rather work my butt off in a race and get a top 10 finish, then sit in the whole time, not doing any work then win at the end. The course was simple, just a big rectangle; but the roads were nasty! There was potholes and bumps all over!

The race was fast, one other girl and I kept the pace up. I was surprised at how many attacks and counter attacks there were! I experienced some in the W4 races, but not as many as I experienced in that race! On the last lap, I had good positioning. On the final corner a girl swung in front of me, almost pushing me into the gutter, causing my to slow down. I soon had my speed up, I then just put my head down and hammered all the way to the finish line.

I came out of that race feeling great! Not only did I get 10th place after working the front most of the race, I also helped my teammate, Skylar win the race!

Triumph is what I felt after Nationals. I had worked very hard in the time trial and criterium, and was happy with my placings. I feel honored, I get to race with a group of very hardcore girls! These are the best in the country. I am already looking forward to racing with them next year. I now know what to expect out of these girls, and I will be ready for it!

The last three weeks...

Well, my last three weeks of racing has been completely..... AWESOME!!!

My all time favorite race, Cats Hill Classic, was three weeks ago. Last year it was my third sanctioned race and I placed 3rd in 13-14 girls. This year I raced two races 13-14 girls and 15-16 girls and did pretty well in both, actually, I raced AWESOMELY WELL!!! The 13-14 girls race was first. The 13-14 girls and boys were racing together in this race, but picked separately; so, of course, I tried to hang with the guys. Let me tell you, those 13-14 boys are fast.... very fast. On the 2nd lap I was dropped, but I was in the lead for the 13-14 girls race. I soloed the rest of the race and won!

There is something you need to know about Cats Hill Classic, it is such a classic, epic race because of this hill. This hill has a 22% grade. Yes, 22%. Right when you finish climbing this wall, there is a little dip. At first you do not think this dip would hurt; but trust me, after a you ride it a couple times, it hurts.

That same day I raced 15-16 girls, and also won that race, only it was much more difficult. Of course, I tried to stay in with the 15-16 boys but lost them within a lap. I was by myself until the 2nd lap, then a girl caught me and we worked together. On the 3rd lap a prime was called. Remember how I was telling you about how much the dip after the climb hurt, well it is the best place to attack, and that's what I did! I rode the rest of the race solo and won the prime!

The next day I raced two races at Scotts Valley grand prix, womens 4 and jr 13-14 combined field (jr girls and boys race together and are not picked separately). I was 4th in the women's race (I also was second in a two place prime) and was second in the jr 13-14 combined field.

Two weeks ago was the district road race state championships. The course was awesome, there were rollers and then a short climb, at the top of the climb, you turn around and head back down the hill and over the rollers. I won the District/State Championship road race in my jr. field! My teammate, Page Robertson also won her age category!

Last weekend was exciting, extremely exciting!!! I raced Women's 3/4 (the women's 3 and 4 were picked separately) and jr girls 13-14 (that day was the District/State criterium championships). I was up in front the whole race (W 3/4) and only went to the back to rest for a little bit, but decided that it was very sketchy back there and I would rather not crash! So I made my way back up to the front, where I remained for the rest of the race. On the last lap I found my team-mate, Bobbie Jo (she is a W3), and tried to stay on her wheel. On the final stretch I reached 32 mph, and was completely spun out! Some W3's passed me, but no W4's!!! So I ended up winning the W4!!!

An hour later that day, I was racing 13-14 girls. I was a little (a lot) tired from my last race so my plan was to sit in and maybe throw in a few attacks. At 5 laps to go, I attacked and dropped one girl, but, the other stayed with me. I had a feeling that it was going to be a sprint finish. I made the girl pull the whole last lap (since I ended up pulling most of the race). On the final stretch, I gave all that I had left in my legs and sprinted past her. I won the District/State criterium championships!

This weekend we will be traveling down to Davis for the District/State Time Trial championships, I am excited for it! That's what I've been doing for the last three weeks! Next up.... Nationals!!!

Chew On This

This blog has nothing to do with the bike. It is a small persuasive paper that I wrote for school.

 Chew on this…

   Have you ever thought about the chicken you eat? Where the chicken

came from or how it was raised? You might be surprised when I tell you

they do not come from those happy little farms like you imagine. You know the ones with green grass, a small white picket fence, and a big red barn in the back ground. So the question is where does the chicken from fast food restaurants and grocery stores REALLY come from?

    All the meat chickens (broilers) start out in the hatchery. They hatch right on conveyor belts. Soon the males and females are sorted out. Males are considered worthless and thrown into a grinding machine. They are used as dog food, cat food, and as food for the female broilers.  Does that sound healthy to you? 150,000 male chicks are killed a day. The females are then de-beaked:   a laser takes off the ends of their beaks along with a lot of nerve endings that are in the beak.  They do this because the chickens are always competing to get food and water; because of that the chickens peck each other to death.

    Broiler chickens are bred to grow immensely obese in a short amount of time. It only takes 48 days until the chicken is ready for slaughter. 48 days. During that short time they suffer from heart/kidney failure and bone disease due to the speed of their growth.

All chickens naturally have salmonella, it is a type of bacteria, and it is increased when the chicken is stressed. When a chicken is stressed the salmonella has a greater risk of entering the meat, or egg. The houses that the broiler chickens live in can definitely cause stress. Thousands of broiler chicks are crowded into that chicken house, there is little space, and what space there is, is soon unavailable because the broiler chickens grow at such a rapid pace. The chicken houses are dark; loud fans buzz from the ceilings; every chicken has to fight its way through the crowd trying to get to food and water. Sometimes the salmonella consumes the chickens before they are slaughtered and then, we eat their meat.  Does this sound healthy to you? 

It may sound like I am saying the only way to stop supporting the chicken industry is to stop eating chicken; well, I am not. What I am saying is, stop eating commercially farmed chicken. Most people say, “Buy organic chicken meat, it’s much healthier than non-organic chicken meat.” Really, there is no difference between the Commercially Farmed Chicken Industry, and the Organic Commercially Farmed Chicken Industry. They are basically the same. Yes, the Organic Commercially Farmed chicken may live in Chicken houses that have windows; but, that is really the only difference.

It is different at a local organic chicken farm.  The chickens have housing that permits natural behavior; they even have access to the outdoors! The chickens at organic farms are allowed to be chickens, they are allowed to exercise, and they are allowed to be in the fresh air and sunlight just like chickens should be. Those are happy chickens, and happy chickens create good, healthy meat.

    Even though organic chickens live a more natural life, they are slaughtered the same way as the non-organic chickens. First they are hung on shackles, then they are brought to a blade that cuts their throats. Some make it through the blade barely alive; those who make it through alive drown in scalding tanks. Scalding tanks are filled up with hot water, and used to loosen the feathers on the chicken. After that, they are de-gutted, chilled in cold tanks filled with cold water, packaged and shipped off to your local grocery store or restaurant and served up in many different dishes, but now you know where it came from.

   After reading this you may want to make a difference, and stop supporting the cruel chicken industry, but how? It is simple; if you buy non-organic chicken you are supporting the chicken industry. If you buy organic chicken then you are supporting the organic chicken industry. So what do you want to spend your money on, and what is the healthiest road you want to take?

Coming Back...

I am rarely sick; but when I do get sick, it is usually only a cold that lasts about a week or so. Even though I am only sick for a short amount of time I absolutely DESPISE it (especially when it is nice and sunny)! I have always been active. I am always  running around doing something, so when I get sick all of the sudden, I have to lay in bed all day long, listening to everybody outside having a good ol' time. It is torture! Why don't you just hang me from my toes and cut my fingers off one by one, then stab small little needles through my feet ??? Sadly *sigh*, everybody has to get sick once in a while.

I was sick a month ago, for two weeks. Actually, I could have only been sick for ONE week. It was the third morning of coming down with the cold; I was feeling much better that day, but I was not completely better. I went out saying that I felt better and that I thought I was not sick anymore. The whole day I worked in the garden, I worked pretty hard because I was excited. The next day, I was congested all over again! Typical Aliya! Never patient when I am sick! During the two week time of being sick, I still rode my bike on the trainer (I rode very easy), so I would not loose too much of my fitness.

Well... After I was completely better, I went to MTB with some friends... and, crashed! RIGHT AFTER I WAS COMPLETELY BETTER! I had a minor concussion, and a lot of road rashes! Got a BIG dent in my helmet.

So I had to get a new one! I love it because it is blue!!!

Well crashing put me off the bike for two more days, then I had to ride on the trainer for a little while longer. Soon I was on the road again training.

Coming back from getting sick and crashing has been hard. I know what my fitness level was before I was sick and crashed, and now, it is hard for me to preform at those levels. I have gone through my legs feeling like soggy noodles while climbing, usually I can climb pretty well too!

This weekend I raced a sanctioned race, Copperopolis Road Race (RR). It was a fun course but pretty bumpy. I was pretty excited about the race because the last couple days of training, I felt very good! The 13-14 girls were racing with the 13-14 boys. I decided that I would try to hang with the guys for as long as I could, and hopefully all of the other girls would drop off the back so I could just time trial it all the way to the finish. There was this one girl that I never raced against before that looked pretty strong. Her name was Avery Morin. I talked to her before the race and learned that she was a down hill MT biker. I decided then, that I wanted to get as far away from her as possible, before the descend (Which I heard was very tactical). I am not the best descender!

Well my plan was working out very well until 9 miles to the finish. The whole race, I was looking over my shoulder to see if Avery was behind me, soon I was feeling very confident that she was far behind. Then out of no-where she was right next to me! It was like she had a bungee cord latched to my seat post and was pulled her way up! The descent was not as tactical as I though it would be... it is just very bumpy!We flew down it! I was surprised, because she was a little ways behind me when we were going down the hill! I thought well maybe I could loose her. Then, I saw the 1 km to go sign. It was like it popped out of nowhere! Then Avery began to pass me. I picked up my speed so I could stay in the draft and launch myself past her at the finish line! My legs were burning so bad! I could not hang on any longer, I lost her. She finished not to far ahead of me.

I enjoyed that race 1. because I began to feel my body preform like it did again and 2. because I met some new people (oh.. and 3. because I still won a T-shirt)!!! What more could anyone ask for???



Ashley and me waiting for the jr. roll-out!



The jrs waiting for the race to start!



Avery Morin and me talking!!!



The girls in jr. 13-14 category



A great new friend



laughing and crashing: The Tuesday Mtb rides.

For the past three weeks,I have been holding mtb rides every Tuesday at 3:30. We meet at One-Mile, near the bridge and take off! Last Tuesday, upper park trails were open, so of course, we were all over them! We went up North Rim, 'til we came to the 'B' trail!

For all of you who have not heard of 'B' trail, it is insanely rocky,with weird twists and turns. The trail is very narrow and if you fall, you need to fall towards the mountain, if not you will go tumbling down a cliff (you might get to the bottom faster though)! There are boulders in the most random places ready to kill you. 'B' trail is known for brutally breaking bones! Whoever has gone down 'B' trail.... you are FREAKY CRAZY!!! That means I am calling myself freaky crazy, because last Tuesday, we went down 'B' trail! I survived going down 'B' trail, and ironically crashed afterwards!!!

There are so many differences between mnt biking and road biking, and most of the time I mtb by myself.
One thing I learned was you can not go to close to somebodies wheel when you mtb! I was pretty close to one guys wheel, he put on his brakes, and I tried to avoid hitting him, but ended up doing so anyways! When I got up, I really did not feel hurt, the thing that scared me was that I could not remember some things like what day it was. Soon I remembered it was Tuesday ONLY because I had an Algebra 1 class that day!

I came out of the crash with some bruises, bumps, scrapes, and a mild concussion, but I am recovering (of course frozen yogurt immediately afterwards was a big help)!!! Anybody is welcome to come out and ride (They should at least have some basic mnt biking skills though, like shifting)! Thank you everybody who came out last week, had a great time!! See you all next Tuesday!

Oh the Wind and Rain!

Well an excellent weekend of racing has just passed by! I had an awesome time down in Sacramento, racing a criterium, Land Park, and a Road Race, Bariani!



Warming up for the Jr race with some Teini Duro guys.

 Land Park was Saturday. My first race of the day was women's category 4 (W4), it was in the morning, and at that time the weather was not the best, over-cast, but at least it was not raining. The worst part was the wind, it was scary! A couple times in the race I thought the wind would knock me over! The whole race I made sure I was in the draft. I ended up getting 8th place!

 My second race was the Jr's race. The race is challenging because all Jr categories race together and are not picked separately, my goal was to hang in with the big guys four at least 3 laps!!! I did, I hung with them for 3 laps, but after 3 laps I was off the back!!! For the rest of the race I decided that I would keep an easy, consistent pace. Soon I caught some guys who went off the back also. I tried to get them to work together with me but they were like little jack rabbits hopping all over the place!!! It was annoying so I just rode my own pace and ignored them. They would soon blow up and sit on my wheel! Ugh... boys..... Of course it just had to pour rain during the Jr race!

I was very proud with my race Sunday, Bariani road race!!! W4 did three laps, ten miles each lap. It was clear all day long, but the wind... WAS CRAZY!!! I think I would have preferred it to rain with no wind, then to have to deal with those large gusts of wind that pushed me all around! The W4 raced hard each lap until we came to the head wind section, then everybody slowed down to 12 mph! When we slowed down some ladies got very wobbly and were very dangerous, luckily, there were no crashes!  On the last lap there was a break with two women they got away, I was in a chase group that was caught, only one lady got away and bridged up to the other ones that broke away. During the head wind section we caught the two ladies that broke away, but the one that bridged was still off the front. She came into the finish, solo and won. When I came to the finish line I was in a break and won 8th place again!



Here are the race results for W4, I am # 8!!!

 When I did the Aliya Omnium, I was not strong on that second day of racing. This concerned us. This whole weekend I had the right nutrition, that gave me lots of energy for the Bariani road race. That helped a lot. When Mark and I do our training rides, I try to find the draft and I stay in it as close as I can. I have become very good at finding where the draft is. That also helped my a lot during the races because it was so windy.

I am very excited to race more road races soon. Next week I am racing Copper town circuit race and also, some parts of the local Oro-Chico stage race promoted by Rodney Cox.

Here are some more pics from this weekend:

Warming up for the road race!



Start of W4 race!!!



Who is Rodney Cox???

Are you looking for some low-key cycling events? Do you want to have fun racing, along with kicking butt and winning some cool prizes at the same time? Have you heard of R.A.C.E?

The summer of 2009 is when I began racing local criteriums. I loved the prizes and all of the support I received from the cyclists and, of course, Rodney Cox. Rodney Cox... who is that guy? Rodney, he is that dude who promotes all of those cool criteriums! He is also the founder/director of R.A.C.E (Rodney's Amateur Cycling Events). He LOVES cycling!!!! You may ask, Does Rodney promote any other events other than criteriums? OF COURSE!!!!

Criteriums, Flat 10 mile Time Trials (TT's), uphill TT's,  Road Races (RR), Circuit races, Mountain Bike races, and omniums are all available on the R.A.C.E race schedule!  The omniums are outstanding! They are perfect for practicing team tactics or just to have fun racing a whole weekend  in a friendly environment! The Uphill TT's, 10 mile TT's, RR, Circuit Races, and Mountain Bike races are challenging, but the scenery is breath taking. You can fit these events in with your training schedule, too.

Rodney Cox has done WAY more than promote cycling events, he has turned on many people, including me,  to LOVE cycling.

You can always find out what's going on with Rodney and R.A.C.E by clicking on the link below:
http://chicocyclist.blogspot.com/

Team TIBCO camp!

Carpinteria, that is where I was last Friday through Monday. It was beautiful (after it stopped raining), and right next to the ocean. Why was I down in Carpinteria?  Team TIBCO camp of course!!!

When we arrived at our Hotel in Carpinteria, it had just stopped raining. Shortly after, we had most of our belongings shoved in every corner and we were ready to go out and find a restaurant so we could stuff our faces! We found a small little Mexican restaurant, the food was delicious! We then went back to the hotel.


Skylar and me!


When we woke up, the sky was clear and we thought for sure it would be a nice day. An hour later I looked outside again, dark clouds had rolled in. It started to drizzle, I hoped that it would not rain to hard that day, because everybody on Team TIBCO was going to ride (Jrs, pro's, and Team TIBCO II).
When we arrived at the beach house Team TIBCO was staying at, the weather was pretty much the same. I did  not care at the time, I was very excited!

This is me with the team owner, Linda Jackson!

The ride was fine. I cut my ride a little short because I was not feeling the best. I turned back with a group of girls and headed back to the beach house. A little after we turned around, it began to dump buckets of rain on us, everybody bee-lined it to the beach house!

The weather was beautiful the next day and everybody was itchin' to go out and do some long miles. We began the ride with the pros, but then they left to do a long ride while, the Team TIBCO II's (TTII) and Jrs had to practice lead outs. That was fine with me, I learned somethings, but really, I wanted to go out and ride some long miles, same with the other Jrs.

I loved spending time with the team. The Jrs cooked dinner for everyody one night, then Monday morning we made pancakes (Tried to at least)! All the pro's are a ton of fun to hangout with... kind of like a bunch of big sisters.

The next day was Monday, my last day with the team. The Jrs rode out with the pro's but later we split. Us Jrs, were able to do some long miles just like we wanted!



All of the Jrs half way through our ride. There is Skylar, Tara, Page, Alexis, and me!


 We left Carpinteria, at 5:00 in the evening and did not get home until 2:00 in the morning!!!
I will get to race with and see most of my team this weekend at Snelling RR!

Jelly Belly's and Cherry Pie's

  Early Saturday my family and I packed our bags to spend a weekend in the Bay Area, we would go visit the Jelly Belly Factory and I would race at the Cherry Pie criterium. Before we left, however, we stopped to race a local up hill Time Trial (TT) which would be my pre-race ride.The TT (Pentz rd.) was 5.8 m. with 1,200 ft of climbing. I went easy up the climb because my legs felt the previous days ride. After the TT, we were off to Fairview.

  We stayed in a very cute, small hotel room. It had a loft with a t.v in it... that is where I stayed!!! When we were all settled in our little room, we jumped over to the Jelly Belly Factory that was only three miles away. Their tours are free and 20 min. long. In that time you get a full tour of the Factory and learn how they make Jelly Belly's. You also get to sample Jelly Belly's at different stages in there creation. At the end of the tour you receive a little box of free Jelly Belly's.

  After touring the Jelly Belly factory we zoomed over to Napa where the Cherry pie criterium would take place so we could ride the course a couple of times. I will tell you what the course is like:

Well, the start is on a descent then you go around a turn and it flattens out. You go around another turn that is very wide onto some rough pavement which smooths out when you take a left hand turn. After taking another left hand turn you have a tail wind that pushes you around a chicane and up a small climb, which is were the finish is. After the climb you take a 180 degree left hand turn. That's the Cherry Pie course.
After riding the course we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Sunday 2-6-11........ RACE DAY!!!! The whole family was up and ready to kick butt at 5:00 in the morning! All we needed was breakfast and our carrot juice. Soon everybody was packed and ready to spend a day at the races. It was a beautiful day, 70-80 degrees out! My first race was at 8:10 in the morning. I was racing in the category 10-14 girls that were also racing in the same race as the 10-12 boys. Everybody split into different groups. I was in the lead group, but, to me, they were going slow so I attacked before the chicane. I stayed off the front the whole race (it was only three laps) and won! When you win a race you get a cherry pie.

The next race, Women's cat. 4 (W4), was more important to me. We raced for 30 min. It was a fast race! There were a couple of times when I thought I would not hang on to the lead pack, but I did and I am very proud of that! On the last lap it seemed like everybody was dropping off the pack! When we came to the climb I gave it my best and passed a lot of women. Let me tell you, I was TIRED! Later on I found out that I got 11th place!!! Working hard pays off!!!

                                              On the podium with the 10-14 junior girls!                                    

Off the front!!!

                                                            On the podium with my cherry pie!

Last Sundays race!

Last Sunday I rode with my team in an Early Bird Criterium.  I was incredibly excited; this would be the first race that I actually would work with a team! Before the race, we came together and discussed the race tactics that we would perform. Soon we came up with the decision that everybody would attack at different times in the race, and I would lead out the last lap.Everything went as planned, but when there was only 5 laps to go a crash just HAD to occur. Two of our teammates were in it, Maryanne and Vanessa.  Maryanne was supposed to be behind me in the lead out so when I slowed down she could pass me and keep the pace going. Unfortunately, with Maryanne crashing, the entire lead out was up to me.

 

The race was neutralized for 2 laps, and when we were allowed to race again there was one lap to go. The race was on! Everybody began to pick up the pace, even though I was to lead out the whole last lap, I waited until the second to last corner to take off. When I did, the remaining two teammates were behind me ready for the sprint. When I dropped they took off.  One of the sprinters won! The other was in 4th or 5th place, and I had a big smile on my face! I am looking forward to the next race with my team!

 

The next exciting thing is that my stepdad, Mark Wolford, raced for the first time in 6 years! He was very proud of himself because he not only was able to stay with the cat. 4’s, he also was in the top 10!!! GREAT JOB MARK!!!

On the road again.....

For the last two weeks I’ve been on the trainer due to a small injury to my hamstring. The problem was caused by riding too hard before my warm up.  To heal this, I had to ride on the trainer with no resistance. I would ride 90 min. every day. My warm up was 45min. with 50-60 rpm’s, and then I would ride for 45 more min. at 70-80 rpm’s. The second week on the trainer, my hamstring was feeling better so I began to add resistance and I shortened my warm up to 30 min. I am glad that most of the time I was on the trainer it was raining!

My first ride on the road was a couple days ago! Mark and I planned to leave at 6:30 a.m. but did not get out until 7:30. BOY! That day I WANTED to be on the trainer! It was FREEZING! Going down Cohasset road we had to stop every 5 min. to warm our hands up! There were also a couple of places where I had to Hike-a-bike over the ice, and did not get warm until we rode back up Cohasset!

Yesterday I rode in Rodney’s up-hill Time Trial. The ride was very short and simple, only 3.4 m. and 700 ft. of climbing. My time was 20 min. and 49 sec. That was my best time until I rode the same up-hill Time Trial today. I cut over a minute off of yesterday’s time! My time today was 19 min. and 20 sec.!

I woke up this morning to 4-6 inches of snow! When we came home from the up-hill Time Trial my brother already made a snowman! Hope everyone has wonderful New Year!