back at it...

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Happy President's Day, Happy Valentine's Day... I think that is all I missed since the last post which was a long long time ago. Life got a little busy... but I'm excited to be racing on the road again for Now and Novartis for MS and I plan to blog about our adventures as the season progresses... no promises though :)

A few pictures from our pre-season Bermuda adventure!

(The NorCal Half-Pyramid)

(Our Sweet Bikes!)

("Cross-Training")

(Playing in the sand)

(made it to the end of the island!)

Happy Halloween!

The Team had some Halloween Spirit this weekend!!

(We are ready to Buzzzz around!)

Winning Team

Seeing a teammate bring home the well deserved win after a hard race is sometimes a better feeling than winning yourself...

(photo credit: Steve Anderson)

... and stacking the podium is always fun!

(photo credit: Jason Perry)

Team Rambuski Law had a good weekend! 3 1sts, 2 2nds, and 1 3rd!

Rubin Meets Cyclocross

Rubin is new to 'Cross, and he loves it!

(look how happy he is!)

Here he is with his "Cycloross outfit"

(He can't wait to get to the races!)

And here he is on the top step of the CCCX podium!!

(He likes being on the podium with so many Rambuski Law racers!)

StarCrossed and RaphaFocus GP

(Barriers -- weeee!)

Headed to Seattle this weekend for Starcrossed and Rapha Focus GP UCI races. Course features included twists and turns around a grassy tree filled landscape; a short ride through sand followed by a long and grueling run through more sand; and a barrier and flyover combination ideally situated by the beer garden. It was a fast dry course on Saturday and while mother nature tried hard to bring rain on Sunday, she fell a bit short of providing ideal mud conditions and only brought a few damp corners in the end. The UCI status attracted a number of strong contenders from the US as well as from Canada and beyond.

For Saturday's Starcrossed race, I had a slow start, but moved my way through the field until I settled with a group of 3 racing for 5th place. I tried to get away and keep moving up at first, but when I could not shed the other two riders, I settled in and tried to conserve energy on the windy parts of the course. I attacked again on the last lap, but it came down to a sprint and my slow-twitch legs mustered up just enough to take 5th!

In the Rapha Focus GP the next day I managed to get an even worse start off the line, but after a lap the lead group was in sight. As I latched on to the group of 5 riders, my rear brake came undone and I had to finish half a lap with 1 brake and pit the bike. Aspen was my trusty pit crew this weekend and he got me rolling on the A bike half a lap later, but after two stops by the pit, I had fallen a number of spots. I chased my way back to 5th and found myself in a similar spot to the previous race. This time I did not try to conserve anything, but kept chasing hard in an attempt to move up. In the end I was unable to reach the riders ahead of me but was able to pull out another sprint for 5th again! I improved on my results from last year and had a ton of fun racing with a deep field -- it's going to be a fun season ahead!

(Lots of sand -- ouch!)

SufferFest

(leaving aspen)

The end of the season has been full of suffering for me. Typically, that is what cycling is all about. However, coming back to NRC racing after 3 weeks off the bike makes for extraordinary amounts of suffering.

First race back for me was Cascade Classic -- five days and lots of hills. The prologue was the first hard effort I had done since nationals and it hurt! The next days I would be racing for my teammates which made the suffering worthwhile and a lot more fun. I probably could have sat in the pack and tried to hang on until the finish. But instead, I gave everything I had to make sure moves were made and covered early on to let my stronger teamies save their legs for later in the race. I finished toasted and well behind the pack each day, but got in some good training and watched my teammates dominate in the end with two podiums and a second overall in the GC.

Next up was Charlotte Crit. Home to our national road race champion. The race was fast and furious and hot! My form had improved a bit from Cascade, but I was still in sufferfest mode. The team finished in the top 10 and took a plethora of primes in the process. We had a great support crew from Uptown Cycles and a wonderful team dinner after the race. We also had a chance to venture to Asheville, NC to put on a women's clinic and get in some scenic team riding. Fun times.

My final sufferfest came last week at the Aspen/Snowmass Women's Pro Stage Race. At this point, I had been back on the bike for a while and gaining fitness. I was feeling closer to my normal self and hoping to have a more typical race. Unfortunately, feeling good at sea level does not equate to feeling good 7-9000 feet above sea level! My HR was skyrocketing out of control the first day, my legs boycotted on day two, and my lungs called it quits on day 3. So much for having a normal race.

Hopefully all the suffering off the back will be good practice for suffering off the front in races to come. Often races come down to who can suffer the most. Ouch!

Bike MS

(Fueling up with Terry part way through our MS ride -- all smiles!)

Racing with Now and Novartis for MS has not only been a season of great bike racing, but also an opportunity to learn about MS and spread awareness about the MS community. We don't just spread MS awareness at our bike races, but we also participate in Bike MS rides across the country where we ride tandem or alongside someone who has MS. One fact we want to highlight about the MS community is that MS does not define a person.

This message became real to me when I had the chance to ride in a Bike MS Cleveland event with Terry, who himself has MS. Check out our team blog to hear about my MS ride as well as my teammates rides throughout the country:

http://www.nowcyclingteam.com/index.php/pro-blog/