RASTA Rally

I want to keep this fairly short...

A great turn out with some great weather. The hail didn't come until I got home. Yay!

When I rolled into the race I went to register and saw Rebecca Cleveland rolling around...it was going to be one of those races.

We started out and it was an expert field mass start. I don't mind those...I was lined up next to Olympic athlete Chris Cook...no biggy!

Once we were finally off I had a good start. Maintained my position for most of the start outburst. Rebecca came in on my inside still in the double track on a turn and I hung on her wheel. She was someone I wanted to attempt to stick with...Once we hit the single track a few miles into the 15 mile race, Rebecca was no where to be seen, and it would remain this way...

Hills came and went. Bumps came and went. Back pain came and stayed. Before I knew it the course was almost over. I hadn't even had one single sip from my waterbottle. I felt good, but I felt I just wasn't going fast.

I made a strong finish with a time of 1:24...Seth Lenss showed up and won the men's expert race. He won with a time of 1:01-02 ish. Only 22 minutes behind an excellent men's elite racer? I'm not disappointed by that at all. Why can't that happen at WORS??

Took 5th overall and 3rd in my age group. Got a sweet orange coffee mug. You only WISH you had one...

See you at 9mile ready to rock with a sore back!

Lake Geneva Treadfest

I was super GIDDY and NERVOUS going into this race. I had no idea where my strengths were in comparison to others, or where I possibly would finish. I had been working hard this season, and all I wanted was to get that showing to know the difference I have made.The preride went great as I prerode with Andrew and shredded some trails. Felt pretty good, but how would it be race pace for four laps. The morning of the race I was pumped. My shifting was giving me troubles during the warmup with Patti, but I think I had gotten them all straightened out.
Let's see...how was the start? Well, as predictable as could be, not even at fault of me being an idiot and mishifting, but somehow I managed to drop my chain on the climb. Luckily, I was able to tend to it without having to get off the bike and reclaim a good spot for the remainder of the race. I often wonder what would have happened had I been able to stick behind the P-R-Os and the FAST elite women.
Lap One: Rode it alone. Lori Sable wasn't far off in front of me, but she was zipping right along. Felt really good besides the knocking pain in my chest from the cool air. I felt like I needed to vomit. Didn't. Completed lap one and was happy.
Lap Two-Three: Lots of Comp men passing. What a pain. I tried to maintain my position as I had no clue how far behind me women were. I was able to spot Mrs. Guerra creepin' up on me on the lap points by the grassy hills. Going into the third lap I was feeling pretty good, climb all the grassy hills strong, then when we got the drop off descent into the singletrack I definitely entered it with WAY TOO MUCH SPEED. Instead of a descent, it acted as a launch pad. Had there been a mound of dirt 10 feet further out I could have gapped that thing, but I was air born. Feeling like I was in the air forever, my rear tire began to float over my body. Here it is. The end of my life. The beginning of the Sarah Lukas Foundation. Luckily, I saved it. HOW??? But, after that I was freaked out the rest of the lap.

Lap Four: Crept over the descent to ensure no stupid moves. Through the windy singletrack I saw the little Guerra closing in on me...I never saw her on the same trail as me, and I didn't want to! I got really nervous that a whole race of riding it with no one around and she would nip me at the finish. We got out of the switchbacks, I saw her there. Time to BOOK IT. I did, and finished 30 seconds in front of her.

Overall: I am pleased with my 6th place finish. I know I still need to work a little harder and push myself into more of a pain cave if I wish to accomplish better. I am so happy that I was able to start the season off with a good finish, for once. I was getting sick of the constant disappointments.

What's up next?

RASTA Rally in Rhinelander. There will also be a benefit ride for my friend and old soccer teammate, Nicole Balgaard, who died giving birth to her daughter.

Thanks to Renee Bach and Rusty for some racing photos!

And the wind took me away...

Wednesday of last week I finished up all of my finals and packed up for the early departure time on Thursday morning. I tried to nap so I didn't exhaust myself at 2:30am.

We headed to Nashville to fly out for a straight line to Denver, CO. The flight was good and it only took about three hours.

We jam-packed 4 bike boxes and all of our luggage into a caravan and made our merry way to Boulder to visit some of Kip's family. His cousin is an engineer in the bicycling industry so we got to check out some Raleigh designs along with Cycle-Ops trainers and stationaries.


We then went to Pearl Street to take in the sites...
It was fun to get into a real city, with real shops, and people everywhere.
Some sweet copper statue that were everywhere on the street.
Also, the beautiful tulip beds were everywhere.
And of course a nice photo-op.We finally got to our Hilton hotel in Fort Collins and then got to do some easy spinning the day we flew in. My legs felt incredibly icky! But I figured the next day, Friday, would be able to open them up before Saturday's race.On Friday, we headed to the TTT just to watch. It was awesome to see some of the best racers out there right away. Lees-Mcrae began with a 24:00 time that seemed unbeatable. They ended up taking 4th behind the best schools in the country, all the Colorado schools and the winner UC Davis. UW-Madison took 6th. We didn't race because we didn't have a team qualify to go out to Colorado, just individuals. You need 3 for the race. We met up with the Madison and headed out to preride the course after the TTT. Part of the hilly yet gorgeous course going around a reservoir. A pretty little farm with a brick grain tower.
We dominated the climb. Jessie, me, and Jean at the top of ANOTHER climb...when do they end!
The beginning of the road race was beastly insane weather. It was 30mph winds, cloudy, and on the verge of hailing...I was shivering on the start line.The nationals banner above us at the start even started to take out the field by beginning to fall on us. Luckily some spectators ran to grab it and we were able to survive. There was a 1.5 mile climb at the start, it was pretty brutal. The field split immediately...I regrouped with a pack of about 20. It was fairly successful until the point of me getting dropped on the descents.
Since I got dropped the terrential headwinds killed me through the feedzones. I was all alone, up until my last lap when I got into a small group of about four people.


We headed back on the out and back looped course. My current little group split apart and we were heading back to the finish, there was about 20 miles left to our 50 mile road race.
We got to the top of the climb that we first started on and the USA officials were standing there to tell me the last 10 miles of the course, to call off the rest of the race because of the dangerous winds. At one point I got blown 30 feet across the road...it was brutal and my finishing place was far from impressive... maybe the crit will be better Sunday...
Expecting the day of the crit to be much warmer, it was just my luck to leave all my warm weather clothing back at the hotel and we went off at 8am. The temp was -1 degree celsium...brrr!!
I bundled up in Kip's clothes and stole some gloves from UW-Madison's Jessie Duppler. I was ready to rock...uh...well...get rocked...Did I mention I am more of a climber??
It was a fun, figure 8-ish type course. But we didn't cross in the middle. It was just an apex. Nonetheless, it was insanely fast, both the course and the race. I hung with the pack for about 10 minutes of the 60 minute crit. Many of us fell off the back and I found myself working with my small group.
I love it when I get dropped in road racing because the spectators are so supportive and see you as the hopefulls that might make a great comeback. They are always cheering, shouting advice, wishing you to do well. It makes me smile because I don't want to be happy when that situation happens, but they make it happy.

Then, naturally, as I anticipated before the race, we got caught only 20 minutes in. Similar to the regionals crit. I am unsure of what I placed...that's how good I did. I don't even think they recorded us. That's a little depressing. Get this, I finished both races but didn't get to cross one finish line the whole weekend...

Kip did amazing this weekend, but didn't have his normal power that could have gotten him a podium spot. I don't know how he does it, but he is such a great racer! I'm very proud of him.We flew out from the Crit Sunday night and made it back to Kentucky. I am glad we got out of there so I could get started on the long road home right away...Well, we slept and then got on our way Monday/Tuesday.
The jeep was SOOO packed. We ran out of room to fit things so we zip tied them between the bikes on the bike rack. We then had to roll the windows down to fit more things in the side. On the way out to get gas we had to put air in the tires....we were a little loaded down.

But, I am home now! I am so greatful to have Wisconsin dairy products, true organic foods, homemade mashed potatoes, my own bedroom with no crazy roommates, and to be back with my family.

I leave for Lake Geneva this weekend for my first mountain bike race this year. I have some high expectations which I am afraid of failing at. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Also, prayers sent out to those who crashed in last weekend's road race and crits. The men had some terrible crashes and we pray for their recovery and families.

Wherever the Wind Takes Me

And the wind is about to take me to Colorado beginning in 3 hours. It is just about my bed time and I know I will have to wake up in 2 hours to pack up my bike box and my suitcase.

All in all, my time here in Kentucky has been great. The training, the experience, the school. All of it has been pretty new to me, and I am enjoying it.

My parents came into town over the weekend, visited, had some fun, rode some bikes, and moved a lot of my stuff back home. Now when I get back from nationals, me driving home won't be so bad.

I will race my 50 mile road race on Saturday, through the mountains of CO with some young and talented female pros. P-R-O. Then on Sunday I will race a 60 minute crit in Fort Collins. Then Sunday night I will fly back to Kentucky. On Monday I will get in my little hut-mobile and head back to the Dairy State.

Race recaps will be made from Nationals, so stay tuned! Thanks for all the support that everyone has given me!

Roller Ride

So yesterday we did a fundraising event. It was a 12 hour roller ride in front of the cafeteria to earn money for our team. Even though our team is a Varsity sport and fully supported by the school, that doesn't mean we get all the money we want. It's just like any sport, we get a budget, and need to balance it. In turn, we want to earn some extra money for a cushion.

Here is a link! We made the news...
http://www.columbiamagazine.com/index.php?sid=22975
I also had to bust out my artistic ability and low budget to make some catchy signs.
I rode for 2 hours only. It was a gorgeous day, and there is nothing like being stuck on the trainer under a building for a long time.

We did have a pretty stellar set up. We had people rotating throughout the day, one guy rode all 12 hours, and a projector screen for race movies, music. All of the above. We also had a donation jar.

It really was well. My time riding was spent with a great group of people. It was me, Jake, Kip, Stefan, and Jimbo.
All smiles...for now...I know Mexican food is tonight...
And it is important to be aero on the rollers.
All the craziness aside, I was able to get out on my first mountain bike ride all year!! I was very excited to test out my endurance and how terrible my skills would be.They weren't as bad as I thought. I found myself riding some of the toughest parts of the course that I hadn't been able to ride last season. I had some bumpin' tunes in and it really got me going.I really had a great time out riding today, and am looking forward to WORS this year. I truly hope I can pull off some great results.

After my ride it was time to get serious. Kip had a dodgeball tournament so I had to go be spectator, cheerleader, and photographer. They got eliminated pretty quick...
But they did make $50 dollars for best costume and best spirits...$50 to split amongst all of them...so it equaled $6 dollars a person or so.

Next up:

Thursday I fly out to Colorado to put my road racing skills to the test against some pro women...that's all...

Sunday: Fly back to Kentucky after a tough weekend.

Monday: Drive home or atleast to Watertown to Kip's house...Yay Wisconsin!