Sometime near the end of the week, this will be here from Nimblewear:

(Huge thanks to Micheal at S2N Design for the design)

Just in time for delightful onslaught of purple accessories to hit the market:

That last one is the X-project shoe from Pearl Izumi. It would be perfect for racing CX, but it doesn’t exist in stores yet. According to the regional rep, I’m going to have to wait ’til March. All I’m missing now is a fresh pair of black Swiftwick Pursuit 4s (best sock, EVER) to tie it all together.

Since posting the proof on my Facebook wall, I’ve had a few people make mention of wanting a Brickhouse kit for themselves. Once I get it in and see the colors/fit in person, I’ll have a better idea of when/how I’ll do a run for people who would like to buy one. It would be a slightly modified graphic (I’m guessing no one will care if theirs doesn’t say “Wilson” on the collar), and I’d take a deposit for whatever items you wanted. Kits would get here 4-6 weeks after you order, and I’d send them out once I had all of your money.

Even if I’m not the fastest woman at Worlds, I’ll surely be the best dressed.

Speaking of fastest, my training this weekend went well. After a frigid morning ride on Saturday, I lounged on the couch until later in the afternoon, when I did some 20 minute intervals on the trainer. I know a lot of people detest the trainer, but I’m finding it to be a comforting pain cave. Versus riding outside, it’s easier to maintain a steady power output, and, when I’m done with my last interval, I can sit up and pedal at 50 watts to cool down while looking at Facebook on my sweet new iPhone versus taking the energy to ride home from the roads that I typically use for intervals. It’s also a lot easier to dress. Winter laundry = hamper full in two days.
Yesterday, I did ride outside. I did the “hammer time” interval workout, where I warmup for 15 minutes, ride hard for an hour, then cool down for 15 minutes. I was getting a little tired in the last 15 minutes… thankfully, my Worlds race is only 40 min long.

The trails are pretty soaked in a lot of areas of the country right now, so a lot of you are taking to the road for your training. Or, maybe (like me) you always employ a good deal of road riding in your training. Or, possibly, you are a road-only person who just likes to read my blog. Whatever it is, you should realize that there are some “unspoken” rules to road riding- especially when it comes to group rides. I figured now is a good time to cover a few that I’ve seen severely violated in the past few weeks.

Follow these simple steps to avoid looking like a douchebag:
-Safety: this is pretty easy. Obey traffic laws. Be predictable. Look way ahead and avoid obstacles so that you never need to make a sudden maneuver. This also makes the entire ride more “elegant” because you aren’t constantly yelling and pointing at crap in the road. You just follow the person in front of you, and everyone avoids everything without excess chatter.
– Nothing says, “I’m insecure with my ability to handle wind” like bringing your TT bike to a group ride. The group ride is not for time trial bikes. You don’t ride time trials with a group, so save it for your solo rides. (exception- that’s your only bike, in which case, your elbows never touch the elbow pads unless you’re leading the group or off the back of the group.)
– Nothing says, “I’m insecure with my ability to not get dropped” like riding carbon wheels during a group ride. In fact, the heavier your wheels are, the faster you look (bonus “panache” points for 32+ spokes and/or 25c tires).
– Bring your own flat repair stuff. Know how to change a flat without flatting your new tube. Women- this especially applies to you.
– Shave your legs.
-If the temperature is <50 and you’re not wearing anything on your legs other than shorts and/or you wear summer gloves, you don’t look tough. You look dumb.
– The only form of (slightly) acceptable sleeveless jersey is a previous year’s team kit with the sleeves cut off. It may only be worn if you are at least a cat 3 road racer or cat 1 MTB racer, and only when the temperature is >90 deg F.
– Nothing says I DGAF about anyone like wearing headphones on a group ride. Yes, even one headphone.
-Know when to retire your shorts. Just because they don’t have holes in them doesn’t mean the person behind you can’t see the hairs of your asscrack once you start to sweat.
– There will be one or more “senior,” well-respected, “been around forever” members of the group ride who will tell you if you’re riding in an unpredictable or otherwise incorrect manner. Whether you like what that person says or not, shut up and do what he or she says. The only time you talk back to this person is to thank them for the help/advice. I can’t stress how terrible you look when you mouth off to someone who has been racing bikes since before you were chasing cheerleader tail in high school. You know how bad kids look when they talk back to their parents and act like brats? It’s like that, except that you’re a grown man. Respect your elders. Some day, if you’re lucky, you might earn that status. ‘Til then, shut up.

Addendum: I know a lot of riders who put in big miles. That’s great if that’s your thing, but if your goal is to win road races, and you’re a cat 4 or 5, your races are nowhere near as long as the century rides you like to brag about on facebook every weekend, and they’re a helluva lot faster, too. Nothing wrong with just enjoying a full day of riding a bike at all, just don’t tell yourself (and everyone else) that’s it’s getting you prepared for the first 35 mile road race of the season.

Now, go out, ride hard, and get fast.

I’m not entirely compelled to write a “New Year’s” or “I rode 6500 miles last year, blah blah blah” post here, seeing as I don’t really celebrate any holidays (it’s not just Christmas- I’m an equal opportunity grinch). I just don’t see the point in getting really drunk and staying up late in the name of “celebrating” the fact that, for at least the next 3 weeks, I’ll be writing the wrong date on any and everything. I’m just really glad that the holiday crap is all over now, people are going back to work, and thus, fewer crowds will be in the roads and stores that I need to use in order to successfully navigate my day.

Since I last posted, things have been quiet around the house. I managed to ride outside some, though the weather has stayed pretty terrible. The thermometer is chronically stuck at 40 degrees, and I think I’ve seen the sun about twice in the last week. Luckily, one of the trails near my house is very sandy, so it drains well, and can usually be ridden after about 48 hours of drying (yeah- “drains well” is pretty relative. 48 hours is fast for Memphis winter trail drying time).

Yesterday, Ryan and I went out for a 3 hour road bike death march. No matter how fit you are, if all of your most recent rides are filled with intervals and <1.5 hours, riding steady for 3 hours at a more aerobic pace will make you ache all over. During the course of the ride, I swore off all future attempts to try and ride with anyone male unless I’m planning on riding at a pace that’s n+10% harder than what I’m planning on implementing (attempts to road ride with other women are sworn off by proxy since I found out that all Memphis women who are fit/competitive apparently dislike me). I digress.

It seems like every time I go for a ride with one or more other people (Poolboy Matt excluded), someone feels compelled to break Rule #86. Instead of just chilling the eff out and enjoying the simple fact that he’s riding a bike, this person needs to prove to everyone else that he’s faster. Whether it’s conscious or unconscious, it’s not impressive. It’s obnoxious (especially since the situations I’m thinking about right now involve guys who I’ve raced against/beaten within the last year).

I’m not swearing off group rides by any means, I’m just changing my expectations from, “let’s go out and enjoy riding bikes,” to something more along the lines of, “if I ride with someone else, it is because I’m looking for a pissing contest.”

Enough ranting for now. Worlds training is chugging along, and the next 4 weeks and 1 day should prove to be some of the most challenging. Every day seems to take forever, but the weeks seem to fly.

Prior to the State Championship Cyclocross race, I was training pretty hard for cyclocross (yeah, I know, seems like an obvious statement), but I wasn’t totally “set” on gunning for another try of the Master’s World Championship in late January. Something about winning the State race finally made it click, though.

The weather sucks pretty bad right now. We had a great run of nice weather up until early this week when the cold snow/rain started. Now, the extended forecast is pretty Belgian. Think I’m just trying to be Euro-cliche?

So, I’ve been on the trainer. The weather-bourne necessity of riding a trainer is something that makes or breaks racers. If you blow off workouts, you don’t get faster. It’s as simple as that. While you’re skipping interval day because (like yesterday) it’s 35 degrees and raining all day, your competition is doing this:

I put my headphones in, crank the Swedish House Mafia/Glitch Mob station on Pandora, and stare at the World Championship colors until the stripes burn into my retinas.

Along the same line, I was getting my latest ink worked on at No Regrets on Thursday, and told Joe (my artist) about the upcoming race. After a little brainstorming, we decided that if I win some stripes, he’ll fill the bottom flower of my half sleeve in the World Championship colors…

So, motivation has been found. Big time. In the next 5 weeks, I’m going deep into the rabbit hole of lactic acid and blurred vision, and hopefully finding the podium on the other side.