A Personal Record on Mount Tamalpais-Stinson Beach, CA

The weather was great. The competition was inspiring. The mountain, of course, is awesome with 12 miles of terrain and 2000 feet of climbing. My legs felt a little tired from previous days training, but there I was, settling into a rhythm up the mountain, that felt like it was going to help me reach my goal of sub 52 minutes at the finish. I looked at my watch twice: Once at 30 minutes, when I thought to myself: 'I have 22 minutes to get to the finish.' Then, I looked again at 50 minutes, and kicked my bootie into high gear to finish in 51:51!! I was elated. What a great ride. I visualized it this way, then, during the race, I stayed true to believing I could make the goal, and there it was... I was officially 9th place out of 20 riders, because two people tied for 8th place. A great ride. Way better than that broken shoulder I had last year. Whew.....
Thanks for reading. Infineon races on Tuesday night...and Super Crit on September 27th.

Benicia with Wind and Rollers

Another criterium! Wahoo! Fixed distance, multiple laps, as per crit usual, 45 minutes, 18 women on the line. Windy on the backstretch over the rollers, and on the final stretch, and on the other stretches. Yup, simply windy. The field was pretty stacked with our local, darn near Pro, ValuAct gals, Cheerwine rep, Sarah Bamberger, Metromint, and a few others. The little digger and rollers on the back stretch reminded me of a Midwestern criterium. I loved the course! A few sketchy moments here and there, like any crit, and a few attempts to get away from the field...but the last lap was the best: I jumped pretty early and pretty hard over the second roller, and found myself uncomfortably at the front. I hesitated a bit, and folks came by me....'o.k., o.k.' I thought...get your bootie up there. There was still two turns before the finish and a good downhill stretch to the line. I finished 7th, .....close enough for government work. I held off a few riders. On to the Infineon raceway on Tuesday night, again.

My Buddy Sierra-She's 4, and Sharp as a Tack!!

I was so excited to get a call from Sierra's mom, asking me to hang out with Sierra last Friday night. I was welcomed with squealing and hiding, so I was on.
The first game we played was "hot lava". The carpet was lava, then it wasn't, then it was, then it wasn't. Once she was laughing hysterically at my confused "fearful of hot lava" frenzy, 'we' decided that the downstairs was lava, and the upstairs was not (I was working toward getting her into bed, you see). So, finally in the bedroom, getting jammies on, and getting ready....making the bed, just this way, and not that, according to Sierra. Then, bedtime stories. One story, then another, then, lights out, and we are getting very close to sleepy bye. Well, it all appeared that way.... I was lying on the floor, in the dark, next to her bed, chatting with her, as she fell asleep. I was about to enter dozeville, when the real dialogue began:
Sierra: "Are you awake?"
Me: "un-huh...." (I think I am, anyway).
Sierra: "Can you hear the crickets?"
Me: "Oh yea, they're loud."
Sierra: "They sound like baby birds."
Me: "Yea, you're right."
Sierra: "Did you know that baby birds walk sooner and talk sooner than people do?"
Me: "Wow, I guess I never knew that."
Sierra: "My mom and dad told me that."
Me: "Wow."
So, more tossing and turning in her little bed, and more, very near what appeared to be slumberland for her, I think,.....and for me too.......even though I was on the floor.
Then, out of the darkness, and the sound of crickets:
Sierra: "Does c-o-y spell sausage?"
Me: "I don't think so."
Sierra: "What does it spell?"
Me: "It spells coy".
Sierra: "Well, then how do you spell boy?"
Me: "b-o-y."
Sierra: "Oh"
And the next thing you know, she was fast asleep.
To all of the wonderful 4 year olds out there figuring out their world through play, and discussing it along the way! My best to you always.

Giro de San Francisco-Big Girls, Big Bumps, Big Field

The weather was beautiful, although very windy. There were, I think maybe 35-40 women on the line. A very strong group of Elite Amateur women who pretty much run the show when it comes to Northern California racing. There were potholes galore, and some uneven patches of pavement, forcing all of us to really handle our bikes. For the most part, I think we all did. The finish was about position, position, position. In order to be a contender, you have to get yourself forward before the last turn. I was not as far forward as I should have been, so I had to rely on my "sprint?" to get me by a few riders on the final stretch after the last turn. I ended up 12th place. I was pleased with this because I have not raced the Nor Cal Regional circuit in 2 years! It was great to be back. I feel lucky to be a part of such a talented female cycling community!
This week: Infineon raceway, for a little steep hill, and sweeping wide turns.

Bye Bye Wisconsin and Illinois-Back to Cali!!

As much as I love my birthplace, Wisconsin, and consider it a second home in many ways, my current home is California. So, with that said, thank you to everyone in the Midwest who backed me this summer with racing and coaching. I will always come back to visit.

Thanks to the City of Elk Grove, Illinois for naming the streets so kindly. I'll be back for sure.


I am back in Cali now, finishing up the season with some criterium racing, and great Northern California training.

A Few Pros at Elk Grove, and a Drug Test.

PHOTOS BY KURT JAMBRETZ www.actionimages.cc

Elk Grove, Illinois: 1.7 mile, flat neighborhood loop with 2 pretty wide 180 degree turns, for 1 hour and 33 minutes. The weather was hot. 37 women on the line. The purse was something big. The flyer, and the website said $15,000. The official at the starting line said $11,000. It paid 20 deep, onward ho. Cheerwine, Express Copy, ValueAct Capital, Target Training, Kenda Tire, Hub Racing, and a bunch of solo acts.

Cheerwine ruled the day. A crash on the last lap left the field less top heavy (mainly from people getting caught behind it) while coming down the final stretch. We were missing a few good contenders like Leigh Valletti of Target Training, Lara Kroepsch of Team Lipton, and some of the Kenda Tire Team. I managed 19th place, just inside the money, but it felt weird to have the field all mixed up, and not really racing with leadouts all over the place. Cheerwine was the main team doing a leadout. ValueAct Capital had lost Taitt Soto to a mechanical at 5 laps to go (at which point there were no more free laps from the wheel pit), which was ridiculous, since there was still so much time, and distance (5 x 1.7 miles) left in the bike race. They really should have had free laps until 3 to go, with such long laps. Anyway, the eventful part of the day was the drug test afterwards. I was chosen as a random rider to get tested. The only other reason they test you, is if you WON. It was so hot that I could not give the doping agents enough of a sample. So I got to wait around, drink some water, and keep trying, and trying....finally they had what they needed. Whew. What fun.

Back to the Children-My friend Grant

Have you ever been absolutely charmed by an interaction with a child? I encourage you to chat with a child, if you haven't lately. My best bud, and teammate, Anita, has a son named Grant. Grant and I have known each other since 2003. He's 8 years old now. Yesterday I was able to chat with him on the phone in the wee hours of the morning between Wisconsin and California. He has also shared some of his cool computer art with me too!!

Laurel: "Grant, what are you doing right now?"
Grant: "Playing with leggos. I just got up about 10 minutes ago."
Laurel: "Wow, you slept in today!"
Grant: "No, I usually get up around 6:00 every day."
Laurel: "I heard you got a new kitty cat! How is she?"
Grant: "She's great. Right now, she's waiting to play with me. Every time I pick something up, to put it away, she wants to come and play with it."
Laurel: "What are you up to today?"
Grant: "Swimming lessons, and I'm not sure what else."
Laurel: "How's swimming going? What strokes are you learning?"
Grant: "The back stroke, and the crawl, then we use the kick boards to go from one end of the pool to the other. You know what? I am in the big pool now, and I can swim all the way to the other end and back! All of the other kids start out ahead of me, and then I catch them, and can beat them all! They are stronger than me in the beginning, then I pass them."
Laurel: "Is that because you're in better shape than they are?"
Grant: "No, it's because I have more endurance, and when they get tired, I just keep going, and going."
Laurel: "Oh yea, that's right, you have all of that endurance. How did that run go, that you did a couple of weeks ago?"
Grant: "Oh yea, that was a fundraiser. I ran 12 laps, which was about 3 miles and I raised $115.00. But, I have not been doing much running since then. Just soccer tournaments. We have one this weekend. We are going up against a really good team though, so we may not win it."
Laurel: "You never know, your team might play better than they ever have and surprise the other team with a really good game!"
Grant: "Well, maybe, but the other team is really good."
Laurel: "How many games will you play this weekend?"
Grant: "Four. Two on Saturday, and two on Sunday."
Laurel: "Whew! You have a big weekend ahead of you!"
Grant: "Yea, well there's my brother, and he wants to play, so I better go. Do you want to talk to my mom? She is still in bed...."
Laurel: "Oh no, don't wake her up!"
Grant: "It's o.k, she's awake, she's just lying there, and I am sure she would love to talk to you!"
Laurel: "Aww...thanks buddy!"