Not quite as cool as being at a Ferry Corsten show but still pretty awesome.

I’m not sure I’ve seen any single picture that better portrays the pure diabolic pain Paris-Roubaix dishes out to those hungry enough to dine at her table.
This is unmitigated suffering encapsulated in one click of a shutter.
And it is beautiful.

Redlands-

What can I say…

In retrospect rushing back into a race like Redlands after my crash was not a good idea. Live and learn, eh?

In the 2 and half weeks between the accident and the start of Redlands I spent a grand total of 10 hrs on my bike. Where was I expecting the fitness to come from? Who knows. No one ever accused me of being smart.

The reality is that the ramifications of the crash had much greater consequences than I let myself (or others) believe. My constant need to sleep and labored movement of limbs and mind should have been a warning but again, in this sport we tend to ignore these kinds of things. Acknowledging that you might need to recover a bit more, skip that race that you’d been planning to peak for, or the horror- admit you are human(!) can be more painful and demoralizing than the physical penalties we endure.

For me, the thought of all my teammates being in Southern CA without me, racing, was unfathomable. So I went. And so I suffered. And so I missed the time cut on the first road stage in what can only be described as my worst ever day on a bike.

I started off the race by taking the TT fairly easy, skipping the use of our new BH time trial bikes in favor of my road bike. It was a short 5k course with an ass kicking final climb of around 2k. Normally the hill at the end would have been right up my alley but I could hardly get my legs to turn over fast enough to keep me from falling over. Again, another sign not to be racing. Brain says “IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE!!!”

Directly after the TT, I went back to our room and slept. I’d never felt so tired after such a short effort in my life.

Friday- the road race… I’d prefer not to relive it. My legs were painful to the touch before the start and as soon as the road tilted up I went backwards. Not cool. The one saving grace about spending the day off the back, which was a brand new experience for me, was finding a good partner in Megan Elliott. I’ve seen Megan around races before but had never spoken to her much, just a hello here and there. She and I were clearly on a death march so having one another to make the best of our situation was a welcome relief. She’s been racing for a long time and gave me some really good tips and advise on races that I’ll be doing for the first time this year. It’s too bad that she’s retiring soon to go to law school and spend more time with her boyfriend Chris. With all the time he spends in Europe with Astana, she says her own racing has lost it’s luster after so many years of doing it and the time away from him becomes harder and harder. I guess I can’t blame her but I’ll be sad to see her go.

So anyway, we finished the stage but were victims of the time cut. Again, another sign I wanted to ignore… Fortunately for me I had no choice but to turn in the numbers and look forward to the next block of racing.

In the aftermath of the week, after much reflection, after many hours of talking to sponsors, coach and family… I’ll be ok. The expectations others have for me are great but my own far eclipse all of these. I have a difficult time admitting to vulnerability or weakness in myself, I hate excuses, I probably push myself too hard to my own detriment. I love this sport so much that I can’t accept giving it anything less than my best but in order to reach the goals I’ve set for myself maturity and patience have to play a bigger role in my racing. Easier said that done? Maybe… but I’m working on it.

Thanks to everyone who sent encouraging letters, they mean a lot. And to the few who sent letters asking why I suck so much- I guess it all dates back to Adam and the apple. What can I say, I’m human. It’s in my nature!

On that note, off to train-

Heads up!
Lizzer

Current mood- Cranky
I’m about to go to sleep in a hotel room that smells like a hippie’s dirty sweaty feet. I am olfactorily offended. Is that a word? It must be… too tired to check. Cranky due to the fact that my little sister gave birth to my nephew last night and I still haven’t seen a friggin’ picture of him. MOM, IF YOU READ THIS HELP A GIRL OUT! Welcome to the world Nicky!

On another note check out Cycle To.
They are giving away a Vanderkitten kit this week which is kinda cool since we don’t sell the team kits…

That’s it. I give up.

New stuff for the week…

Roisin Murphy- You Know Me Better-
The Moloko singer, now on her own and better than ever. Love her quirky voice and music. Video is awesome too.

Richard Durand- Sweep & Repeat (Sander Van Doorn rmx)
One of those minimal tech ass kickers, keeps my legs going quickly!

Kanye West- Flashing Lights
Genius. That’s it.

New Edition- Once In A Lifetime Groove
I loved the Groove Cats redo of this song but it’s pretty hard to beat the original. Bobby before Whitney.

Delbert McClinton- Giving It Up(For Your Love)
One of my favorite Texas artists, the guy has a voice that makes you want to move your feet and his band is awesome. My dad gets his dues for this, he raised me on good music.

Scooter- How Much Is The Fish
An oldie but a goodie.

Steve Earle- Guitar Town
Another memory from childhood that has lasted the years. Steve Earle is a brilliant songwriter and outspoken public activist who has been through drug addictions and jail time but seems to always come back with a vengeance. An interesting life story in short.

Everything But The Girl- Before Today(Chicane rmx)
I can’t put my finger on it but EBTG always makes me feel good.

Soon!
Lizzer

Does anything say “I am stylish and worldly, yet safety conscious” better than the beret helmet?

I think not!

I’ve received several links to this 2 minute preview of the new film about the Ronde van Vlaanderen directed by Stijn Coninx. Each time I watch it I’m awash with emotion as it perfectly elucidates why cycling is closer to a culture, a religion even, than a sport in this area of the world.

Simply stunning.

Holy week beckons! God is Terug!

Ronde van Vlaanderen by Stijn Coninx

The bike owns you-

Nasty crash in Visalia. Ended up with a big hematoma on the side of my right ass, messed my middle finger up pretty good along with a variety of other road rash type injuries. Thank god for helmets and glasses though as my head is what took the brunt of the fall. The helmet is cracked in several places. Oakley racing jackets probably saved my eye from serious injury, someone’s pedal would have ended up touching my cornea otherwise. Thanks Oakley!

I’ll spend the next week recovering and getting ready for the next go round, coach says there’s nothing to worry about. So I’ll do just that, NOT WORRY!

Here’s a link to the race video- Cycle To. I felt pretty good and went off the front for a few laps early on, maybe 2 laps in, and then the crash…

Seriously though, I love this sport. There’s just enough blood, tears, and suffering to appease my inner sicko.

Redlands here I come!

Lizzer

We’ll see! Have had 2 days of rest, overcooked it a bit in the last couple weeks but nothing to worry about. Rest, eat, sleep, REPEAT!

Heading down to Visalia, CA now for the Sequoia Classic NRC, STACKED field, looking forward to the race. It’s really impressive how deep the talent runs in these early season races here in California. After this I’ll have a short break to reassess my fitness and address whatever I need to before Redlands. That is the big early season show and I can assure you I’ll be ready to go to battle with the kittens.

I’ll leave you with a video of Tyler Farrar’s unfortunate crash in the TT of Paris-Nice from the new cycling news site Cycle To.

That’s the thing about bike racing… You don’t own the bike, she owns you.

I’m OFF!
Lizzer

Memorial Ride

Team Roaring Mouse Cycles and Third Pillar Racing Team are holding a joint
memorial ride this Saturday March 15th, to honor the lives of Kristy Gough and
Matt Peterson, our two teammates killed on Steven’s Creek Canyon last Sunday
while on a training ride. We welcome friends, family, fellow cyclists and all those
whose lives have been touched by Matt and Kristy. Our ride will include a visit
to the site of the crash site for those to share their memories

When: Saturday, March 15th

Where: Leaving from Foothill College

12345 El Monte Road,
Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Google map to location:http://tinyurl. com/2b6qvb

**We kindly request you do NOT drive out to the crash site during this time, as
we need to keep cars to a minimum in the area, given the road conditions.

Time: Meet at 2:30pm, ride by 3pm

Length: 30-45 minutes to the crash site. Base pace (ie, mellow). No drop.

Route:

Start @ Foothill College (Parking Lot #1, near the football stadium; see link
above for map)

– Left on El Monte

– Right on Foothill Expressway

– Continue on Steven’s Creek Canyon

– Return

Route directions via Google: http://tinyurl. com/2pc8pf

*Press are welcome to attend, however we request respect during our ride. It
would mean the most to us if press were to accompany us on their bikes, as we
are all cyclists this week.