Too sick to race....

Friday and Saturday I spent working from home, feeling worse and worse as the weekend wore on. I knew I wasn't racing when I woke up on Saturday. My chest was on fire and I'd spent the night coughing my brains out instead of sleeping. Racing would have been dumb.

Saturday night I emailed back and forth with Dave R. (race promoter extraordinaire) and I said I'd volunteer if I couldn't race.

Sunday I woke up feeling a tad bit better from the cough medicine the on-call doc called in for me the day before, but then I puked. A nice little addition to the hacking cough.

I left a message with Dave and told him I was gonna be a no-show.

I felt horrible all day about missing the race. I have never had to pull out of a race. It feels shitty. Even when it's the sane thing to do, it sucks.

I was even more bummed because I had a Kenda teammate who was going to race too. I was looking forward to that more than anything.

The race sucked I heard.

I guess 5 women were dq'ed for crossing the "yellow" line and Whitney, my teammate, was one of them. She called me later to tell me about it. She wasn't too happy about it. Her husband won the cat 1 race and didn't stay for podium or award $$.

So I have been off my bike for 5 days now and I really, really feel like a huge fat ass. I feel lame, out of shape, and I am scared to get back on my bike. I am afraid if I do, my cough will come back and prevent me from racing Mitchell Memorial this weekend.

Mitchell is gonna be a huge race. It's about 15 minutes from my house and I am volunteering. I think I am working registration then I am racing this mother fucker. I ride those roads all the time and the bitch of it is going to be climbing Buffalo Ridge 4xs.

So that's it. I'm out. Hope you have a great week.

Kids

I have nothing important to say right now regarding training. Coughing my fucking ass off and not happy about it. My liver isn't real happy with the amounts of Nyquil I am taking in. I just hope I don't turn yellow anytime soon.

Kids, man. I don't have em'. My genes aren't the best, ya know. I decided I wasn't having kids when I was way young. It never occurred to me that I would ever have a baby. Dominic got a vasectomy when he was 22. Neither one of us should procreate, let alone procreate together. What a nightmare that kid would be!

Sometimes on Facebook I check out my friend's pics of their kids and I think OMG how can this guy procreate? I mean, the kids are cute, but I think about what kinds of shit their parents have done and I am like wow, how is that one gonna turn out?

Do you guys ever think like that?

My friend Sandi has a 17 year old son who is a very good kid. He's just all about his dick right now and she can't get him to hang out with her. I laugh at her and tell her how much worse it could be.

My 16 year old niece (Dominic's brother's kid) deleted me from her Facebook page. I was bummed. I think it means she was probably up to no good since all of us adults were deleted. She and her brothers are good kids though, and they call me their "aunt" and shit. It's cool.

So those are my random thoughts on this freezing cold ass Friday.

Have a good weekend!

Germantown

I just registered for my first road race. It's an 8.4 mile loop I'll complete 4 times. Course can be seen here.

It was just 3 years ago when I decided to run a marathon. Somehow bikes got back in the picture and racing triathlon and then Ironman, and now bike racing. Most of you all have been doing this more than half your lives. Here I am, almost 40 years old, and getting ready for my first road race.

What the fuck am I thinking?

I didn’t grow up around athletics of any sort. I went to a performing arts school. I smoked. I hung out with the potheads. We made fun of athletes and jocks. I exercised because I forever thought I was fat. I watched my weight and took ballet until I was 16. That’s when I discovered drugs and drugs made me thin, so why exercise?

I still rode a bike though. It was the best way to get around.

Damn I am scared. You know why? I haven't practiced a paceline. I haven't ridden in a pack. I ride alone. All the fucking time. I am counting on my bike handling to get me though this.

So pleasegoddon'tletmecrash.

No ride for me

I know all of you are probably out getting in a good ride and I sure as HELL wish I was. I am still sick and just going about the day, getting groceries and shit done so I can hopefully ride later this week. The temps are supposed to drop so today will be the last nice day for a while. BOO.

Friday I rode 35 shitty miles with Sandi down around Cleves. The weather was beautiful...65, sunny, a perfect spring day. I felt horrible though. I hacked all night long. Coughing, coughing, coughing. Dominic slept on the couch. I couldn't stop coughing all night.

So I decided to take the weekend off training and let my body recover. Dominic keeps riding my ass about resting and I know he's right. I don't have a strong immune system. It takes a lot for me to get over a simple cold. I don't need this to turn into pneumonia.



In other news....

*Our LBS is moving to a new location! The new space is MUCH bigger and we are super excited for Ron and Wanda! Dominic is laying carpet with Ron today and next weekend they move in.

*I am supposed to race next weekend. If this fucking coughing doesn't stop, I am not racing. No sense in having a bad experience the first time around. I'll do anything to put it off!

*Over on Drunk Cyclist, Snake rode 105 miles in 3:37. He is fucking insane. I haven't had anything to say over there for a while. I don't know why.

*Tonight we're celebrating Dominic's Mom's birthday with pizza and cupcakes. Yum.

Have a great week....

Rides that make me happy

Do you know how much I love riding with Dominic? Bikes are what brought us together. We haven't ridden much together. I've been hammering away at the rollers all winter and he's been creating projects, painting bikes, working, and not doing a whole lot of riding.

Today we went out for an easy ride since I have been sick (and he's out of shape). We took the road bikes out and stayed inner city. Dominic loves his little urban loops.

He helped me practice some cornering in Mt. Echo. Dominic can lean really far, throwing his leg out and just putting his whole body into it. I am getting it but am so scared not to hit those brakes....



The Ohio River is flooding. That's normally a parking lot. The steps of Serpentine Wall are under water. We can never get that close to the Riverboat either. It's crazy.












Stopped for coffee and cookies at Sitwell's. Rode down to Spring Grove and had a tailwind all the way downtown.



I bring my bike into the bathroom stall with me. Never leave your bike anywhere unlocked.



On the way home we climbed Quebec. I passed Dominic. I kept looking back and never saw him. I got to the top and waited. No Dominic. So I rode back down the hill. I found him on the side of the road rubbing his quad yelling about a cramp. He eventually got back on his bike and rode my wheel up the hill and back home.

We got in a whopping 25 miles. I love love love these kinds of chilled out rides, just me and my man.

Blowing snot

I've been sick. Really sick. Yesterday I felt like I was gonna die.

No, it wasn't that bad. I just felt really, really bad.

I coughed and slept most of the day, except for a bath and an exhausting trip to the grocery store. Dominic juiced a bag of oranges for me. And he made me grilled cheese and soup. He's a good boyf for real. In between shots of Nyquil, I watched Seinfeld and layed in bed with the dogs.

Today I am better. I walked my dogs this morning, Nancys dogs this afternoon, and then took my crew back to the park because the sun came out for a minute. I want to ride but I am making myself get back to it slow.

The whole reason I got sick is because I ramped up my mileage last week and my nutrition was SHIT. I know better.

So now I have to cease all training and chill.

Which is SO hard to do!

WHY do I have such a hard time laying around on the couch for two days? I mean, you have to knock me out with SOMETHING to make me chill the fuck out. I hate being sick. Hate it.

I am going to get a good night's sleep and tomorrow take an easy ride with Dominic on our road bikes.

*** Riding for Rescue update:
$330 in donations right now. THANK YOU. I still have a ways to go to beat last year's amount of $1367 though. If you'd like to donate online, you can go here.
THANK YOU!!

Yo

* RIDING FOR RESCUE UPDATE: I have 7.5 weeks to raise money for Northcoast Doberman Rescue. I think my last post brought in a couple hundred dollars. THANK YOU! Please keep the donations coming! Every penny will be spent on the dogs. You can go HERE to donate. Thanks!

This week we had 5 consecutive days of sun and 60's. I had another great day yesterday out on my bike. I rode 18 miles each way to a HOT Yoga class on my CX bike (rain was in the forecast). It was a great class. I lost about 5lbs of water weight. Seriously. Everyone was all sweaty and slipping out of positions. Great class. Christy @ Yoga Home is the best. The ride home was tough.

So far I have about 180 miles on my legs for the week. The double century schedule I am on says I should have 219 miles. Can you imagine? I still have 7 weeks until the 12 hour. That's a lot of fucking miles to be riding. I am tired as hell. My legs are sore.

I have been missing the shit out of Dominic. He's well into 70 hours of work from the last 7-8 days. He took on a side tile job and it's taking up all of his free time. Tile work tweaks him out.

This is me and my Mom from Tuesday night. Her DVR was at 100% and she needed me to stop recording some of the shows she had set up.



Have a great weekend, thanks for reading.

Progress?

The ONLY reason I have committed myself to the bike this year is for Cyclocross. That's my main focus. I want to be a good 'cross racer. I want to podium. There, I said it. Laugh if you will. I came close last year, 4th at Gun Club. On a singlespeed for that matter. In my 3rd race.

Since I have dropped the swimming and running (not 100% but 5-10 miles a week doesn't count) and committed myself to my bike, I have questioned it in my mind, over and over. Is this going to work? Am I still going to suck? Are Holly and Amanda (fasties) going to point and mock me when I lose? (I know they won't, but that sort of thing tends to get in my head XXOO to you both).

Yesterday I think I saw some progress. Either that, or I should ride with my out-of-shape cycling friends more often.

I met up with Ryan for a 30 mile hill ride. It was his second day on the bike in over 3 months (he skis all winter). Ryan used to CRUSH me on hill rides last summer. I would have these huge coughing fits when we rode. I was ready to get my ass kicked again.



The first 15 miles he was ahead of me. He basically killed himself and had nothing left for the final 15 miles. I crushed him. Passed him on the hills just pedaling along, he was all out of the saddle and huffing and puffing and screaming. I actually had to wait for him alot.

And I gave him shit.

Here he is crying like a bitch


The thing about Ryan and me - we talk a lot of smack to each other. He's a cocky little fuck and he's only 25 and when he's in shape, he can really ride a bike. It'll be interesting to see him in his first road race this spring.

Anyways.

You know I had to give him shit the entire way back, calling him a bitch and a pussy and just rubbing it the fuck in. He'll no doubt get me back in 4 weeks when he's in shape.

So I don't know... if it's progress?

I got in another 20 around the bike path with Kristi and her new road bike. Had one last hill climb on my way out of the park. After 50 miles, the cranks weren't turning very fast.

This picture doesn't do this hill any justice


Today was another long ride. 82 miles when it was all said and done. I rode from my house to the ferry, route 8 to Willy's Sports bar (15miles) and then did 50 with Sandi and Tommy. My legs were toast and I missed the ferry on my return and rode an extra 2 miles.

Sunny, warm. Sporting my Twin Six jersey Amanda got me for Christmas.

Moms and Dogs

I've been wanting to write about a couple things that have nothing to do with training or bikes.

My Mom has aged like 10 years since her back surgery last fall. She has hardly any memory of things that happened last year. She's so frail and old now. More so than she's ever been. For those of you with aging parents, you know how it is. My Mom is only 73 but she's an OLD 73. She's just turned into this tiny little old lady and it freaks me out. I find myself losing patience with her. She calls and expects me to drop everything for whatever it is she wants. I try to see her once a week. Dominic does a little home maintenance for her here and there. She stresses me out SO much. She has weekly falls and bruises galore. She goes to the Doc ALL the time for every kind of test you can think of. All of them come back normal. She's healthy, but frail. And depressed. She is such an unhappy person. Bitter. My Mom has had a shitty life and I feel bad for her but she's in a 24-7 pity party.

Ok, enough about that. I just had to get that out.

The other issue in my life right now are the dogs and getting them exercised. There was a time in my life when I ran for an hour a day and that was it. The rest of the day was spent hiking with friends in the woods with our dogs. We'd hike for hours.

Nowadays my workouts take priority and my dogs don't get enough exercise. They get a walk everyday, at least a 2 mile walk every morning. Sometimes we go to the woods and the Dobes run off leash. Fausto has to stay on a leash because he doesn't come back when he's called. Ari is HIGH maintenance and is destructive if he doesn't get out enough. And trying to walk all three dogs is almost impossible. Fausto is not the fat little pit bull we brought home last May. He is all lean muscle and is VERY strong. I have been pulled down several times over the last few months. Mostly it's when they see a cat. I lost Ari's leash the other day and he ran across a busy intersection to chase some fucking neighborhood feral cat. It was awful. Splitting the dogs up for walks is going to be a huge pain in the ass.

The heathens


Thanks for letting me vent. Have a good weekend.

Riding.

Dominic just made it 25 minutes on the rollers.

Me: You're quitting after 25 minutes? Come on, go another 20 minutes.

Him: My tires need pumped up. It's too much resistance.

Me: So pump them!

Him: My saddle keeps making noises.

Me: Your gonna be so fucked when we ride outside again.

Him: I have a raging headache.

Him: I suck.

Me: We're riding MTB on Wed?

Him: Yea!

I just got back from a very cold 50 mile ride. It was mid-30's outside. Me and some friends met up to ride the bike trail for a few hours. Boring but mindless and I just need TITS (Time In The Saddle). With peeps. I am sick of riding alone since my days off are totally different than everyone else.

I digress.

About 3 miles into the ride we run into major ice and snow all over the trail, so the one dude bails. Me and Sandi exit off the trail onto one of the main roads to ride. Neither one of us knew there we were headed so we just kept riding.

The cars were flying by and we had a tiny little area inside the line to ride where there was all kind of rocks and pebbles and I also skidded in sand a couple times. Cars were coming so fucking close to us. I screamed everytime one came too close. I am used to riding in traffic but urban areas of Cincinnati are way easier to ride than some of these far out country roads where the drivers are fucking hicks and fat asses and shit.

The people of Milford Ohio really fucking hate cyclists. Just so you know.

About 20 miles into the ride we pull over so I can pee (Bibs SUCK). We turned around and headed back, this time taking a turn onto a less busier street, getting in more miles. Once back on the main road we fought traffic some more.

One guy came about 1/2 inch from running my foot over at a stoplight and I lost it. I peddled as hard as I could after him, he slowed down, taunting me. I was fliping him off and screaming and he pulled down a side street hoping I'd follow. I guess he was going to beat my ass or something. I was shaking and so pissed. Another 15 miles and we made it back to the car without getting killed.

I think I am noticing a little bit of strength in my legs. I am pushing myself a bit. Accelerating. Maybe all this indoor training will pay off. Or maybe not. I will still probably get smoked but who cares.

I love riding my bike and that's what counts.

P.S. I forgot to mention my saddle sores. They are disgusting. I have been riding this saddle all through IM training and never had such a bad problem. Seriously, I have some major scar tissue forming up and it ain't pretty. What do I do? Switch chamois butter? Get a new saddle?