My Town

You know you live in the country when the front page article of the Lifestyle Section of the Local Paper is THIS

The print edition actually has "Top Tips For Safety"

A few of my favorites....

"It's better to sit in the front of the vehicle"

"Keep your backpack close to you (i.e. on your lap), so you can grab it if you need to get out quickly"

"Wear your most valuable stuff on your body: passport, wallet, money, mobile phone. This way you will keep these items in case you should abandon"

"It is preferable to choose your drivers. You can ask for rides at gas staions, truckstops..."

And get this...a special section for "Women hitchhiking"

"It is good to get yourself some pepper spray"

"It might be useful to text message the license plate of your driver to a friend"

"If there are other houses or people in sight, you can wave to them or pretend to say goodbye to a friend...."

Have a nice weekend!

SoMD Crit - maybe next year

Many racers took the trip south to La Plata, MD on Sunday to race an exciting new venue on the College of Southern Maryland. It is fantastic Pax Velo could put on an event to fill the void of the beloved Leonardtown Crit!

As much as we like to race HPC powered by Altarum spent the day meeting and riding with the employees of our title sponsor Altarum. It was great to get to know the employees and see their enthusiasm about cycling and the healthy benefits. I didn't think it would be appropriate to show them my knees, elbows or shoulder scars:) We met in Georgetown early for a team group ride then headed over to Hains Point for the sponsor ride.

Pre ride at Dean and Deluca

Hains Point gathering with part of the Altarum crew

This is Alex. Look for him in the kids race at CSC. He's super fast!

Earlier in the week Bellie took time to represent the team at a press conference held in Reading, PA by the Organizers of the Commerce Bank Triple Crown of Cycling. Check out the article here

Another very important sponsor event took place on Capitol Hill last week. In support of National Women's Health Week and National Bike-to-Work Week part of the team got a tour of Congressional offices and adopted several members of Congress as co captains. Read all about it here.

~The Cycle~

WARNING: THIS IS A GIRLY POST

BOYS READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
I like to race my bike but there is another type of cycling that needs attention. The monthly cycle and the effects on female athletes. There is a wide range of experiences. My hope is that you will gain awareness of the craziness and if you experience any of this or more, you will be awarded a free pass like my wonderful husband gives me every month. By the way, he is horrified by this post.
Becoming scatterbrained is just one of the many unpredictable things that can be experienced on a monthly basis. There have been many rides from Kelley Acres that we were lucky to return. Combine scatterbrained with the other frequent visitor of indecsion and this is a true recipe for disaster. Luckily, I have a wonderful support group of riding buddies that always seem to go along with me like I know where I'm going. Little do they know... I need them!
Weight gain leading up to the monthly cycle can cause this...

Two yoga blocks stuffed in the legs of my cycling shorts to try
to prevent sausage legs.
Bloating is another evil visitor and combined with what I refer to as "junk legs" can cause a racing result like I experienced at Jeff Cup~DNF!
Emotional instability can rear it's ugly head. A good example of this would be grabbing for the box of Kleenex when Brooke was voted off Idol~even though it was expected and necessary! Totally irrational behavior, big red flag goes up and a pass is handed out.
My least favorite experience that effects me the most physically and mentally is nausea. I get the most sympathy when this happens but would trade it for sausage legs any day.
I try not to complain, embrace the craziness and know that it does not define me as a person the rest of the month. I'm so lucky to have my loving husband there handing out free passes and hugs at the right time.
An interesting article here.

Gut Check

This Saturday Fred and I ventured up to Wilmington to take on the first NRC crit I've raced in a long time. The full HPC powered by Altarum squad was in attendance along with several other local squads and of course the women that get paid to race their bikes. The promoters put on quite an event, closing down a huge section of downtown and offering up a festival atmosphere around the race course with several bands and lots of food and drinks.

Here's what I took away from this particular racing experience.

1. Get you head out of your arse and do not end up in the back at the start line~rookie move

2. If you line up in the back be prepared to completely kill yourself to move up. duh!

3. No one is going to let you move up.

4. The chances are extremely high of some type of incident occuring when you are riding at the back. duh again!

5. If an incident occurs that results in chasing back to the field, never give up. ugh!

6. Gut check for next race.

Almost reconnecting after "the incident"

The bottom line is I raced about 20 min. I did not realize how many riders were behind me until I was changed and on the sideline cheering on the rest of the team. Looking back I'm not so happy I pulled out of this race. I'm not much for parade laps but this race was shredded into so many pieces I could have at least had a good workout without looking too pathetic. The good news is HPC powered by Altarum ended up with 5 riders in the money! The results are here.

Warm up laps~look we even had frame numbers~Wow!

It was so nice to have my hubby there to give me a hug and make me go people watching with him.

Check out the lease going into the Porta John

Next up~Bike Jam and RFK Crit