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!