NewZworthy?

I survived my first crit!
The weather was nice, so I think there were more than 20 of us? Apparently there were 2 crashes among the cat 4 women, but I only found out after it was all over (and I understand that they were minor). One of them hit a road dot, which sounds kinda funny, I guess, until it happens to you.

Here are a couple I'm-so-happy-not-to-be-dead post-crit photos:


















I'm sitting next to Karla in the first one. Her race wasn't until later, with the pro men. Damn.

In the second photo, I'm between Carol and Mel. Carol (left) took almost all the photos, and got up early to BART/ride to the race with me, which was so cool, because I was tres nervous. Mel's my mentor.

Team Oakland, out in force at the Early Birds:
There was obviously a conversation going on here; I was off in lala land:

Beth (bottom left) races track down in San Jose at the Hellyer Velodrome. She says it's really fun. I'm going to do some Saturday clinics there in February.

What I learned on race day:

1. Helmet visors are totally uncool, and everyone agreed. Sean held onto mine (see bottom left) during my race, then thought he'd lost it, but then it somehow materialized when he flung it at me right before his race. It was great to be reunited. I laughed, I cried. He also held onto my bike bag for me, because, I was told, you don't want anything on your bike that can come off in a race. Thanks Sean!

2. Pull less/draft more. Here I am, out in front, learning the foregoing. But it just feels so much safer in front! Look! I'm smiling! For a few minutes, anyway...


3. Don't try to sprint for an entire half lap to the finish just because the pack is going excruciatingly slowly and it feels safer at the front. I don't have a photo for this one, but imagine the above, only I wasn't out in front when it mattered, and I wasn't smiling.

4. My HR max is actually 3 beats higher than previously thought (see #3).

5. Don't trust Mel's definition of a post-crit "cool down ride". Here I am, learning lesson #5 on Mount Motherfucker:


And here I am blogging about my race, during my race (lap 3).

Kidding! Hullo, I'm not that fast. Actually, during the race sign-in, I was informed that I'd screwed up when I applied online for a racing license (in that I never scrolled down to the way bottom and clicked the microscopic "purchase" button), so the bell-lap announcer guy let me sign into my email, find my password, and finish the online application process on his laptop right before the race instead of doing it by mail (takes much longer to get your card, he said)! How cool is that?! I had the time to do so, because I'd already missed the pre-race clinic (huge delay on BART), so while everyone else was mentally and physically preparing for their first race ever, getting pointers and familiarizing themselves with the course, I was squinting at microscopic letters in bright sunlight on a tiny LCD screen, blind as a bat without my glasses, hoping I hadn't checked the "pro" box. I panicked briefly when I got home and saw that I'm registered for cyclocross, but apparently that's all bundled up with road and track, and I'm good to go.

We rode home from Fremont at breakneck speed (I thought, anyway) through the glass strewn streets of Hayward/San Leandro/East Oakland. No I'm-so-happy-not-to-be-dead photos representing that experience, but I've never been so happy to see Lake Merritt.

Holy crap I'm going to New Zealand!
I leave in a couple months. I'll spend 8 days cycling with a group from Queenstown to the top of the South Island, and then I'll head to the North Island and hang out with brother Bryan, sister-in-law Nancy and niece Abby. Bryan's been there for 4 years, and he's talking about moving back to the US, so it's time. Plus, he'll be on sabbatical. Ah, Bryan, if only you were a cyclist!

Here's the cycling plan:

Day 1: cycle 77 km Queenstown to Wanaka
Day 2: cycle 145 km Wanaka to Haast
Day 3: cycle 142 km Haast to Franz Josef
Day 4: free day in Franz Josef
Day 5: cycle 134 km Franz Josef to Hokitika
Day 6: cycle 140 km Hokitika to Westport
Day 7: cycle 158 km Westport to St. Arnaud
Day 8: cycle 120 km St. Arnaud to Picton

That's a lot of kms. And I don't even know how hilly it will be. But hey, the weather is predictable...in that it's completely unpredictable....