The Cross Training Season and My Friend Ryan

Whoa, where did the off season go? Well, my friend Ryan can tell you, a small chunk of it was with him!!! It went to playing flag football, hand ball, buns-up (a throwing game with a tennis ball) , basketball, and Mr. Beanbag! What? Let me explain: You see, in the process of trying to come up with fun stuff to do that was unrelated to cycling, I had an opportunity to hang out with my friend Ryan for 4 days! Geesh, if you ever want to really get some good cross training in, hang out with a 9 year old for 4 days, and play whatever sport he wants you to play. Wow.

I know, all of you parents may be snickering, "she has no clue." or maybe you're saying, "I wish she'd come do that with my kid". But, there I was, in charge of Ryan, his 13 year old brother, and his 15 year old sister for 4 days, while Mom and Dad were out of town. One day, I was completely tuckered from the outdoor activities that we had been doing, we watched a movie (thank goodness, I got to sit down), then we played some cards. While we were playing cards, Ryan pulled this huge beanbag over to where we were sitting, so he could sit on it. The rest is history.

We had been talking about Halloween, and this is how it unfolded:

Ryan: "I want to be a beanbag for Halloween!"
Me: "Well, if you're gonna do that, you should practice first!"
Ryan: "O.K.!"

And the next thing you know, he was inside the beanbag, dragging it around, and jumping in it and on it, and with it, and ............after awhile, I think the whole idea of being a beanbag wore off. He was all out wrestling the thing! It was hilarious! These shots barely touch the fun that was had, but I had to share a bit of it. 9 year olds ROCK!!!

Round and Round They Go!!!

Today was a great day for a little bike clinic for 4th and 5th graders. Sometimes, even if you spell it out in big letters for them, they still just want to go as fast as they can on their bikes. They are so funny. One of the drills was with pairs, and they were to ride side-by-side, then switch to riding single file, then side-by-side, then single file with the other rider taking the lead. But, they simply could not help riding really fast AWAY from their buddy. It was pure humor. Close the gap!!

The real fun started when I had the front rider come upon an imaginary "huge rock" in the road, and do a quick-stop! The rider behind had to be at the top of their game, so they would not ram into their friend. Not even a casualty here. They did great (must have been all of that skidding I let them do beforehand).

Mandalay Bay Super Crit in Las Vegas-Sunlight, Twilight, Bright Lights

The course was flat and fast. There were about 60 women on the line. Big guns from all over. Cheerwine ruled the day, no surprise there. Aaron's had some riders on the line, some other strong solo riders. It was warm, and oh so dry. It was hard to move forward in the field, but with about 10 laps to go, I finally started edging forward. With two to go, I had made it to the top third of the field, and was moving forward when a rider on my right, tipped into a metal barricade. I did not go down, but I was gapped with several other riders, and we chased for the last lap and a half. I ended up 29th out of about 54 finishers, and I was upright. More next season. Look for updates on my new team, and other cool things I am up to.