What Nellie May has to say...

It's finally Winter

2009-12-11T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I new it would happen, it is a bitter sweet thing for me. I love the snow but I hate it! Time for the rollers, but time to unpack the skinny skies! I can't believe it's been over a month again, I am not sure where the time goes. I had such good ambition to be a good blogger!
Here is a picture outside our house...

It just kept snowing and snowing and snowing! I didn't think it was ever going to stop. It was really amazing! The schools closed, everyone was excited and I was NOT! No school means I can't work and I don't get paid!
Here's Ben and I, he did a great job shoveling, something I don't really love to do!

Just think only a week ago, this is what Durango looked like. This was not good for December, but I liked it for cross racing. I am definitely a fair weather cross racer. We (Teal and I) had a great battle for the last race and we wrapped up the cross series. Perfect timing because the next day it started snowing and didn't stop for two days! Thanks Dave Hagen for putting on such an awesome cross series for us Durangoens! All your hard work is much appreciated!

Cross and Halloween!

2009-11-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

I did my first cross race of the season! It was really fun and hard. Forgot how much it hurts! Here are some pictures Ben took. I didn't take any of him because it was so cold (night race) and I had to head home. So next race I will get some pictures of him and put them up!

Halloween!!!!

We had a great time. Ben dress up as a transvestite for Luca salon competition. He didn't win, but he won in our minds. The person who won shouldn't have, it was a girl and the costume wasn't even that good. It was rigged! The did a great job on Ben's makeup and we did a great job on Ben's cloths. Thanks for everyone that helped!

I hope to get more pictures soon. So I will post them when I get them.

Fall in Durango!

2009-10-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

It has been so beautiful in Durango this fall. Ben and I went riding in the Gulch and had a wonderful ride. The views were beautiful! I still can't get over how nice it is in Durango! For some reason I don't think it's been this nice in October for a long, long time. Here are some pictures from our ride.

Participated in my first cross race today. Again the weather was awesome. I rode the mt bike bc I don't have a cross bike yet. But I was happy to ride it because the course was more suited for a mt bike than a cross bike. Well, for me. There were some pretty fast guys that raced on cross bikes.

Start of the race, I was hanging out in back.

Me around the fire pit. Good thing I didn't mess this part of the course up. I would have ended up in the fire! It was so nice out this morning that it felt so hot around this turn!

Look I was going so fast!

Ben was such a good boyfriend and hung out taking pictures while I races even though he had his own training. He took this awesome picture of Adam Snyder. He got third today behind Todd Wells (1st) and Chad Wells (2nd) and no relation.

trying to be good...

2009-10-12T21:56:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am posting again!!!! On a trip, no, literally I am on a trip to Colo Springs, Boulder, and Denver....

I headed up to Colorado Springs to meet my coach, Corey Hart, on Saturday. I can't believe how cold it is up here!!!! The day I drove up it was gorgeous, clear blue sky, 60+ and as soon as I got over La Vita (not sure if that is spelled correctly) it was 23 degrees at the bottom! Total inversion. I have never seen anything like it before...everything was frozen and iced over. Come to find out they had an ice storm. Didn't know that happened in Colorado...I have never seen it happen. Well, I guess it does. So the rest of the drive was cold and gray. I got to the Springs and it didn't change, cold and I didn't leave the house unless I had to. I did have a great time there though; ate good food, drank good wine, saw good friends....

So I left today to head up to Boulder. The weather was much better today, more "normal" for October! Not much to report on. Just thought the crazy weather was worth to mention. Hopefully I will take some pictures tomorrow. I got spoiled with Ben's new camera and don't want to use my "old" one anymore!

Ben stayed home to be good and go to class. I miss him and wish he could have came with. Next time I guess.

This is a cool tree I saw hiking with my mom before I left on my little trip.

My mom taking pictures, much better than me. She got some incredible shots that day. I will have to upload them when I get back. She is really amazing...

Fall in Durango!

2009-09-28T16:07:00.000-07:00

I think fall in Durango is my favorite season, it is so beautiful. Here are some pictures of this past weekend mt biking in the high country. Sorry pictures are out of order, left overs from my concussion.

Me at the top of Purgatory (aka DMR).

Haviland Lake, Ben and I had a picnic here. What a wonderful view!

Man that water was cold! Ben didn't even get in it...he doesn't like water so much.

Ben as he is dropping me.

Me trying to take "artsy" photo

Breath taking views! All day!

Ben and I after the ride. We (or I) survived and no crashes!

My new bike! Thanks Ben!

Wild life in Durango...

Pictures and stuff...

2009-09-11T22:17:00.001-07:00

I think I should start uploading all the picture in large! Can you see me??!!?? Yes I went mountain biking. Ok, I should back up... I know I haven't blogged in a long, long time. But you see, there is this thing called Facebook and it has taken over. But I realize that not everyone has facebook so I am going to start (well hopefully) blogging again. So I have been racing my bike a lot! Did some stage races in the US and went back to Europe to race La Route De France. After La Route I came back and needed a break from the road so my wonderful boyfriend took me out on the mt bike. We had better luck this year! No "tests of our relationship"...and we even did a high country ride. Take a look....

First time this year on the trails...tearing it up! I even dropped Ben, then I discovered he stopped to pump up his tire! But I will take it!

Hi country ride. It was so beautiful up there!

Again, me catching some mad air...ok, that never happened. But I didn't crash!

Ben on the high country ride. He was recovering from his head injury and still kicked my butt! How can he go so fast!?! I really need to practice more...but sadly I don't think that's the problem!

Is this face directly related to his head injury...well, no I think it's a suffer face bc I put the hurt on that day in the Gulch. I rode so hard I had to get off the bike and sit down. And then later that day Ben called it his "recovery day." WTF that was such a hard day of training I had to take the next day off! This mt bike stuff is really hard!

And then....I had to join Colavita at the Gateway Cup Crits and CRASHED big time. I think this has to be the worse crash for me ever. And I have had a few! I crashed into the barriers going about 30mph head first. NOT GOOD!

This is my arm...stitches...4 inside and 6 outside. OUCH!!!! This actually doesn't hurt as bad as it looks. My head hurts the most. Well, it's getting better ever day. I am on day five so head aches are at a minimum, but man does my neck hurt. Going to go see the magical Dr. Frank on Monday! Hopefully he can give me some relief!

So it's the end of the season officially! I am excited to take some time off. Maybe go to some races with Ben and be his support! Maybe take a real vacation at some point, oh and start work. So if you are a teacher for Durango School District and need a sub, let me know! I am available.

Oh! and the BIG NEWS! I signed with Colavita again for next season! Very Excited!

What I am doing...

2009-06-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is my host housing family in Tulsa for the races Tulsa Tough. They were some tough racing but Colavita did great as a team, we really worked well together and got on the podium 2 of the 3 days! Thanks Ostrem's for having us. You guys were awesome!

Me, Kathy, Scott, Jen and the kids Justin and Annika.

Yeah! I got my first NRC podium. Shelley Olds (1st), Me (2nd), and Jennifer Mcrae (3rd).

Lance Armstrong's Bike shop...seems like this is where I have spent most of my time in Austin. A little strange, but this is where my teammate Shontell works...so really not that weird.

Well, this is weird! I guess I am a stocker...this is Lance's home. Shontell took me by and I had to stop and take pictures. It wasn't planned, but a little funny. :)

Then I still need to report about Iron Horse Crit. I WON!!! Again for the second time!!! It was really fun...good competition. I didn't think I could pull it off. I was in a break with a really good sprinter Tiffany Pezzulo and she really made me earn that win.

My mom and I after the race.

My new teammate Tiffany Cromwell. She was so awesome and helped me get into that break, couldn't have done it without her! Thanks Tiff.

Me and my break partners, thanks mom for the good picts.

Me before the break happened.

It's official...

2009-05-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

Over the past month I have been up to A LOT! As you know from my previous blog I was released from Michela Fanini and back to the states from Europe. Though I do miss Europe, racing, and my friends. I don't miss the team stuff, so I would say it was the best decision. I have been back in Durango only a little more than a week and it feels good to me "home" and seeing my friends and family.

So I wont keep you on the edge anymore about "It's official".... actually several things!

1. I am officially living at my parents house until August. It's really not that bad, they are great and fun to be around. Plus with racing I am almost never there.

2. It's officially summer in Durango...hit a high of 90 yesterday.

3. It's official that The Steaming Bean in Durango changed owner ship and I think Durango Coffee might have some competition....

Ok, just teasing you (well all that stuff is true) but I will get to the real news....

4. I am officially Carmen M Small again!
Now I just have to change everything. It feels good, but it's such a hassle to change your name...maybe that is why I put it off for so long. ;)

5. I am officially a team member of Colavita Sutter Home presented by Cooking Light!
I am totally excited about joining this team! I had such a great time with them racing at the SE crits and can't wait to race again!

I will try to be better about pictures...this weekend we have the Iron Horse in Durango. I am not doing the RR but I will race the crit. Try to get some good picts from that. And Durango is beautiful so I will try to be better and get some stuff up.

2009-05-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I am officially released from Michela Fanini and very happy to be back in the states. I have thought long and hard about what I wanted to blog about next and have decided just to move on to bigger and better things.

I had been home for no more than a couple of days and got a call from Tina Pic (races for Colavita) and got an invite to guest ride for there team for the SE crit series. So I joined them and have been racing with them for about a week. I have been really lazy about pictures, but here are a few podium picts....

We have been on the podium everyday...with a few wins and hopefully more to come. We have two more races...one tonight and the last race tomorrow. I had forgotten how much I love to race my bike. What a better way to come home...racing with a wonderful team and killing myself every race so they can do there jobs!!!! I LOVE IT!!!

What can I say

2009-04-11T12:13:00.001-07:00

Well, I haven't blogged anything because I really have nothing nice to say... My mom always told me if I didn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Well, maybe that is not always true because I do speak my mind most of the time and really don't hold back (something I picked up from my dad). I guess you will have to wait for all the stuff I can't really say at this moment. BUT.....

Ok, this is how it went...

1. Oh f$#%, this girl next to me is doing an endo her bike...

2. Oh shit, her bike is going to hit me!!!!

3. Wow, that was really close....

4. I have to close this gap!!!

5. Oh, my foot is out of the pedal...

6. Hurry...hurry....hurry...clip back in

7. What the heck...what's going on, I can't clip in

8. Oh F@#* !!! my cleat is broken in half!!!!

9. Oh shit, my radio doesn't work and I can't say anything!!!!

10. Find teammate tell her to tell the DS what is going on....pedal with one leg until the car gets to me and I get in...wow...this sucks!!!! Would much rather be in the race than in the car. Oh well, what can you do, at least I don't have road rash!

What a cleat should look like.....

What my cleat looked like...

What have I been up to?

2009-03-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Well, a lot actually...

I have been really busy it seems and have not forgotten about my blog, just got put to the back burner. Our team had a first race in Switzerland. I forgot how pretty it is there. Switzerland is a wonderful place....but no wonderful muesli because we were close to the Italian boarder, so they like there dolce and cappuccino.

After that we had our team camp #2 and team presentation. I have discovered these tasty little pocket coffees to keep me going. I needed them for the team presentation, 6 hrs of eating, talking to people, and taking pictures was very hard...especially when the day before we were in our kits for 5 hrs taking pictures.

Next very exciting thing was getting to see BEN!!! He came over for some races and to see me! :)

It was such a wonderful time. We rode bikes of course, went to Florence, went to races, had wonderful dinners, and hung out! I was so great getting to see him!

Florence is beautiful place, if you come to Italy it's a must see! I can't wait to go back and do some shopping!

We walked all over looking at the spectacular sculptures, building, and artwork. We had a great dinner and then headed back to Lucca.

Florence is beautiful place, if you come to Italy it's a must see! I can't wait to go back and do some shopping!

This is my new friend Gino, he has been keeping me company. Thanks Ben!

Ben at his race in Italy, it was a tough day having to start in the last row with 100+ men starting. But I had a great day of training while he raced and then finished off watching him come in and thinking..."wow, glad I am not that dirty, think I will stick to road racing!"

First World Cup is coming up this weekend. I hope to have a good report for you. Lucca is getting warm and not so much rain. (well, I probably just jinx us, oops)

For all of you....

2009-02-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

....that thought I was complaining or bitching or not having a good time in Italy because of my last blog (it was ment to be funny). This one is for you...

My roommate, teammate, and buddy Carly. She makes me laugh and teaches me Aussie slang, like "I need some T sauce for my snags.”

The riding Toscana is wonderful. There are so many great climbs!!! And the country side is beautiful.

Going to the pet shop in Italy...It looked a little different, no cute puppies and kittens. Instead there was this mangy old cat that Carly thought was sooo cute. It wasn't in my opinion and it smelt bad. I am not a cat lover though....so what can I say.

My roommate, wait I mean roommates donkey, and Flavia the other American.

MY NEW BIKE!

My favorite pizza with breasola and arugula.

It's like a weird dream...

2009-01-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

...when

1. you join an Italian cycling team
2. you get yelled at to go faster, faster, faster on a 5 hour ride.
3. on the 5 hr ride you have to be in your 53 the whole time and go faster, faster, faster
4. you figure out this is how every ride will be, there is no other way to train than #2 & 3
5. you go to immigration and get pushed and punched in the ribs...more to this story, email me if you want to know the details...check out the picture

6. the Italians in the house start cleaning and no one tells the non Italian what is going on.
7. 5 kilos of cheese is almost gone in a week and only 3 of the 7 people are eating it. Wow and they are "on a diet"??
8. it's 11:30pm and you are trying to sleep and there is someone in the bathroom talking on the cell phone...and you have to get up at 7:00 to go to immigration.
9. your helmet is so big you look like a bobble head. It will really save my head from getting crushed when I crash and it falls off. But we will get our race helmets "domani" oh and our race bikes.
10. when the lady in the red lipstick (in the picture at immigration) asks me in Italian if I speak German...I just told her that I speak English (but in Italian). Then she managed to grab my bag and try to rip me from the counter...what a morning that was.
11. When the Italians don’t even slow down for red light and we are just praying there are no cars coming through the intersection.
12. you don't understand what they are telling you in Italian so they just repeat and talk louder, because you will then be able to understand some how.
13. something that should take only 2 hours takes half the day...even a conversation that should be a simple yes or no turns into some complicated argument.

But let me tell you the cappuccinos, hot chocolate, and the views on the rides are so, so, so wonderful!!! I guess it is worth it. :)

Team Training Camp The Italian Way

2009-01-24T00:46:00.000-08:00

I am back in Lucca Italy for another adventure...2009

One of the many photo shoots we had during camp. You can check out more pictures and an article on the team web site.

One of the rides...I am so happy to be back on the small roads and the beautiful country side of Tuscany! Flavia, Carly, Rosane, Sara, and Serena. I was taking the picture.

Me! My helmet is soooo big! A lot of good it does, I have it the tightest it will go and it still doesn't fit. I won’t give in to the Euro ways and go with out it. So for now, it will look ridiculous until we get our race helmets. Until then...

WOW, do I need to say anything else!

Teammates

The director of the team Alfonso and me after one of our rides.

Carly (Assie), Luigi (massage therapist), and me.

After an awesome climb, what a view! Giulia and me.

We are finished with team camp and are now back at the team house in Lucca. We will have another team camp next month, I think the second week in February. Hopefully the weather will be getting better soon. It is raining a lot, but expected that so I am not too surprised. So far it has been a learning experience, they do things differently in Italy so you just have to go with the flow. I haven't cracked yet, but have come close several times. It helped a lot when we got internet at the team house. I can now be connected to my friends and family which helps so much. Until next time....thanks for reading...hopefully I will have some funny stories to tell soon. Like when I arrived and the owner of the team grabbed my side to check if I was too fat and then when I met his brother he did the same thing. WOW never had that happened before.

Happy New year!

2009-01-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Ben and I went on a walk with his dad (Klaus) on Christmas day. The weather was finally getting nice...even though it doesn't look that nice. The first couple of days we were there I don't think I went out side because it was so cold and or rain/snowing.

We went up Oberwoessen close to Reit Im Winkl, to where his brother lives for a few days. We had an awesome time nordic skiing and riding.

A church in Reit Im Winkl, this was such a cute little town!

Bernd, Ben, and I after our ride through the Alps. What a wonderful day. Bernd was our wonderful tour guide, and Ben's brothers wife's brother. (wow that was a lot)

On our Christmas day walk. That area had a horrible storm that blew down millions of trees, they are still cleaning up from this storm.

Ben and I after one of our rides in Kahler Asten, the highest mountain in the area. The views were beautiful.

Klaus and Ben

Who can guess where this is? Hint...I didn't go there...the picture is from someone else, but it is so beautiful I had to put it up.

Winter and New Team!!!

2008-11-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

Bad news...The snow finally came!

We (cyclists) were pretty lucky up until Thanksgiving. Then the snow and cold weather came. I had been riding with long sleeves and vest and Thanksgiving I was riding inside on the rollers! NOT FUN! But it looks like it is going to get nice again, with a high of 42 degrees today and tomorrow the high will be 43 degrees (waaahooo). Ok, well it could be worse it could keep snowing, but at least I can ride on clear roads!!!!

Good news... I leave January 11 to join my new team in Lucca Italy!!!!

I signed with Michela Fanini Record Rox and I can't wait for the new racing season. I am moving over there January 11 and will be there until the end of September. Hopefully I will be able to come back for Nationals. I am learning Italian and that has been a really challenging task. I think that is the most intimidating thing for me with this new chapter of my life. Well, I hope to have more stories over the Holidays and I will for sure have a lot of stories once I get to Italy!!!

Cyclocross

2008-11-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Before I got sick I did a local cyclocross race and I had so much fun!!!!

Here are some pictures...

I AM ALIVE!!!!

2008-11-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the past week I was on the couch and thinking I was going to die (well, not literally, but felt really really sick). When I got back from California I got a phone call from Emily Z saying, "do you have poison oak? Scott does." I laughed and said no, hahaha, I don't sucks for him. No more than a couple hours later I started to itch and see little bump in my leg. I thought, "oh shit, I have poison oak and just made fun of Scott for having it." That's carma for you.

Well, the poison oak was in full force for the following week and I thought surely it should start to feel better soon. Then I came down with a sore throat and that night had a temp of 102 degrees and thought I was just getting the flu. A couple of days later I still had a fever with sore joints and muscle and then my mouth started breaking out with sores. I had about 30 sores and had gone to the urgent care twice. The doctor did not help me at all, but gave me Hydrocodone and sent me on my way. The next day I was worse with more sores, now on my tongue and on the top of my mouth. I went to a regular doctor and finally she gave me something that helped. A few hours later I started to feel better and the fever went away! So if I wouldn't have gotten poison oak and I probably wouldn't have gotten this kids mouth virus. Everything is clearing up and I can see the light!!!! I can't wait to get back on the bike and enjoy these wonderful Fall days before winter hits!!!!!

I don't have any pictures to show, you wouldn't want to see them anyhow. I will put some up of the Dolores cross race that I did. Soon, hopefully!

Bike Safety!

2008-10-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Bike safety is so important and it is sometimes forgotten about. I recently went and had a bike safety talk to Floriday Mesa Elementary School's third graders. They were a wonderful listeners and wrote me great letters thanking me for coming in. Here are some pictures form the talk.

Talking about hand signals. It's important to use them correctly... and to use them!

The most impprtant thing...THE HELMET!!!!

The kids wanted to see me ride the bike. I didn't do any tricks, not because they didn't ask more because I don't know how.

I had such a good time and hopefully the kids learned a lot and it made a difference. Thanks to specialized for the awesome helmets the kids got!!! They all like them and have been using them. Hopefully just wearing them and not to many crashes.

What to do in the off season...

2008-10-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

1. Play women's volleyball and get so sore I can't even walk

2. Go mt biking and have to walk 2hours of the 6 hour ride...more to this story that I will not share because it will just piss me off! And you better believe I got sore from all the walking!

3. Start working again...Subbing can be so much fun and it can be not so nice!

4. Help friends move and get even more sore.

5. Soreness was going away so I started lifting. I am not one to take it easy so I got sore again.

6. Have time to go to Bread and eat a lot of yummy food and drink great Lattes!

So I guess all in all, I complain a lot in the off season! I am so glad that I am going to do cyclocross so I can stop being a wimp!

Beautiful Country side in Toscana.

If I was Italian this would be my name!

I think our country side is just beautiful as Italy. We are so blessed to live in such a beautiful place. This was in the high country, by Coal Bank.

I know it's been a long time....

2008-09-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been so so long, but I have no idea what I have been doing. Life has been a crazy mess for the past couple of months and maybe I am on track now. After what I thought was my last race (crit Nationals) I had to start working and easy back on the training. So I started subbing for the school district mostly Elementary schools, which was fun, but lots of germs and sick kids. I didn't think much of it at the time because I didn't really need to stay healthy for any big race coming up and I need the money bad. So I continued to sub and ride casually, I even did a few mt bike rides. Then I got a phone call Jim (the director of the National Team) and he said I was going to Italy to race Toscana. Well, I thought to myself, I better start training again I only have 12 days. So I got back in the mode of training, but still had to work. I forgot how hard this was, wow. I got the training in and felt really good with my fitness and I was off to Italy. I got to Lucca and I forgot how much I love it hear. Italy is such a wonderful place and I was ready to race! Then the night before the first race I came down with a sore throat and it turned into a full on cold. I raced the first and second day and now it is the third and I feel even worse. I guess we will see how today goes.

Well, I guess next time I know better then to sub in schools, especially elementary schools, where there are a lot of germs and sick kids. I should know better, I taught for 4 years. Oh well, bills have to be paid!

I don't have any good picture to show you of Italy, I gave my camera to the mechanic in hopes of some good pictures but haven't gotten it back. So hopefully by the end of the trip I will have some good new to report and some good picture.

Zion National Park, it was beautiful!!!!

Home sweet home

2008-08-07T21:22:00.000-07:00

I came home to Durango, but then left again...While home it was really nice to get my life back in order and spend time with my family. (for a short time) I am currently at Nationals so I will have to give another update about that soon.

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to all my supporters in Durango! You all have been the best and I am so glad to be a part of the community. Thanks for all your support!!!!!

While I was home I got to go on the group ride with the Church of the High Pines. Thanks for letting me tag along.

My dad AP Small. One of my biggest supporters, right along side with my mom (Donna) and step mom (Margaret). Sorry no pics, next time for sure!!!!

Larry and wife Jana Goldstein, you guys are the best!

The crew for the day. Thanks for such an awesome ride!!!!

Czech, France, then Germany

2008-07-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

I guess I don't have a lot to say and I have been really bad about taking pictures so here are a few. We are in France for the next two days and then we will head to Germany. A long drive!

Andrew pinning my number

Me starting the Time Trial at the Czech race.

Rebecca and me

My boyfriend Turtellini in France what a view, he enjoyed it a lot!!!

Lauren and Turtellini, he was helping her with her computer, he is so smart.

Training in Livigno!

2008-07-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in awhile because I had nothing good to blog about, but last week I was in Livigno training and it was absolutely the best week ever!!!!!! I have never seen so many beautiful views, the pictures don't do it justice. The training was awesome, I have never climbed so much in my life. The weather was spectacular too.

So lets see...what haven I been doing.

After racing with Aaron's I had a short break at home and then I was off to Lucca, Italy again. It was a crazy day, my flight was cancelled, then redirected and finally ended up in Florence. I was picked up, no bags, and the ride home was really, really hot (no AC and about 90+ degrees). But I was fine actually and very happy to be at my second home in Lucca. It's amazing how much you can feel at home in a place when you haven't even spent that much time there. I trained for a couple of days and then took the train up to Livigno. Every day the riding was awesome, the food was great, and it was wonderful seeing a new place. What an adventure! Here are some pictures.

Climbing one of the many passes in the Alps.

Me starting to suffer a little. Look at the snow! This was the only day there were clouds in the sky. I lucked out, 30min after I was done with my ride it started to rain.

Lots of animals roaming around. I loved these little sheep, especially the baby ones.

He was so cute and fuzzy. I am such a sucker for the baby animals!

Me on another climb, I can't even count how many climbs I did!

Oh, Stelvio! Wow, this was an awesome day. Not kidding 48 switch backs.

Getting to the top!

Almost there!

I am one tired girl after doing that climb.

Always in Italy, cappuccino, it's the best!!!

Bad luck, carma, crashes, hopefully it will end!!!

2008-06-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

So my last post I was optimistic that my crashing would stop, but that did not happen. I survived the first day at Nature Valley in the rain, but can not say that about the second day. I got tangled up in a crash that went across the road. I picked myself up off the black top, checked my self out, no broken bones just more road rash on top or road rash. I found my bike picked it up and there was no rear wheel. Where did it go???? By this time the race was going up the road and I was one of the last people to get going. I never did catch the peloton, but I was in good company with Chrissy practicing a team time trial trying to catch up. We got to the end circuits, but it was to late, they pulled us and gave us a pro rated time (15min down). That day sucked. So I was going to work for the team the rest of the race. I nursed my wounds and try hard to the best job that I could for my team. My ribs hurt really bad so I ended up not finishing the last day.

I ended up going to the doctors and no broken ribs but separated them. I hope I heal fast because I can't wait to get back out there and race my bike they way I like to.

I am back in Durango for a few days resting up. I head back to Europe for some good training this Friday before I join the National Team to race a few stage races. I hope to take some good pictures, so check back.

I will try to download more pictures from Nature Valley too.

Philly

2008-06-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

What can I say about Philly....HOT is the first word that comes to my head. Wow, it was so hot and humid I think I can honestly say it could have been one of the hottest races I have ever done. The team raced really well and we are now in Minnesota where it is not hot. It's raining as I am typing this and will continue to rain most of the week. I thought we left this weather in Montreal!!!! Oh well, part of the job. Here are a few pictures from Philly.

The A-Team at the last round about before the finish.

This little kid was a crack up. He was such a show off for us girls. His proud dad was following behind. I decided to take some picture of him and then he swerved and almost took me out. Not good, I don't need any more road rash.

And I couldn't forget little turtle, he was tucked in bed ready to get some sleep. He's our biggest fan, so he gets tired cheering us on all day.

Side Lined, not fun!!!!

2008-06-06T08:13:00.001-07:00

So what do you do at a bike race when you don't race?

1. Pretend to be the assistant swannie

2. Try to help teammates as much as possible

3. Ride in the team car and do math

4. Become a professional photographer (I wish)

5. Help the girls

6. Help more

7. Get bored...so I decided to get unbored the last day

Meredith bought me a turtle to cheer me up!! I am still trying to think of a name, so if you have any ideas let me know. I will take a pole.

So here it goes, the last day I had a bunch of fun with my new pal...

Christina (our super swannie) and Turtle, he helped her set things up before the race

Taking a nap in his pink sleeping bag (it's actually a camera case) he needed to rest up before the big race, we had lots to do. Meredith let him rest on her leg, she is so nice.

Turtle got to ride in the team car and help me calculate points for the QOM. Felicia did a great job and got enough points to stay in the Jersey and when the 35+ Jersey, way to go!!!!

Turtle getting a ride in my pocket to the feed zone.

Turtle getting some caffeine so he can finish out the day strong.

Turtle was very popular, even the announcer wanted to take his picture with him.

Turtle even got his own chair at the end of the day. Just hanging out with the girls!

Turtle needs a name, please help!!!!

Racing with Aaron's

2008-06-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

I have been getting some slack about not blogging so here it goes...

I came back from Europe and the next day flew to Denver to get Lasik Eye Surgery. Everything went well and I am healing up nicely. Trained with friends in Durango and had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely beautiful until...the Iron Horse Weekend. I think in over 30 years they have had the event it was the first time cancelled, due to snow. A lot of people were very disappointed, but the day cleared up and was actually really a very nice day. The following day was he down town crit and I WON!!!! It was a hard race because Jeannie Longo and Mara Abbott showed up. It was nice to when a home town crit.

I then packed up and headed to Montreal to race with Aaron's Pro Team. The first race was Montreal WC and it was raining, not good! I road at the front of the race to avoid crashes, and believe it or not the on the second lap there was a crash and I ended up running over someone and then got ran over. SUCKY - Look at my knee. I have road rash and am really banged up, but luckily no broken bones. I am going to see how my knee feels tomorrow and hopefully I will get to start the race.

My bike ended up taking a beating too. The handle bars got shaved off and so did my pedal.

Tomorrow we start the Tour de Montreal. Then we will head to Philly, for Liberty Classic and then my favorite Nature Valley in Minnesota. I hope my knee feels better so I can do some racing with Aaron's it's been so long and I want to race my bike!!!!!

Hopefully I will have more pictures soon. Will try to take some this week.

What can I say...

2008-05-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

I am a bad blogger...I know it's been awhile, again.

Last trip we had I finished of placing 8th at the Elsy Jacobs race then we drove 9 hours home (to Lucca). We got in around 1:30am, man that was a tough one. We were home for a little less than a week and wow I can't even remember what has happened. I remember, I got sick, really sick, so that is my excuse why I didn't blog! Then we traveled to Switzerland to race another WC, Berne, and it wasn't much fun. I definitely wasn't 100% and still am not 100% but oh well. I had to race because you have to start WC with 4 people. I thought that I would start and see how things went. I didn't feel good, but the selection was made on the first lap (10km from the start) and so I thought I would just sit in. I ended up finishing the race, hopefully I didn't make my sickness worse. I do feel better today though.

These are two lemons, obviously very too different types of lemons, but they are both sour. The big one takes a long time to mature. We get to pick the little ones as much as we want, but the big one Pino game me. We aren't allowed to pick the big one's.

Driving back from Switzerland, another long night of driving. We left after the race and got in around 12:30. The drive was beautiful though so it kept me busy looking around at all the gorgeous land.

We (Alison, Swani John, Andrew and I) decided to keep busy by counting tunnels. Who can guess? We counted from Berne to Lucca...How many?

I will post the answer on my next blog, so comment and guess.

A lot has happened...

2008-04-25T01:27:00.000-07:00

What have I been doing? It's been so long I don't remember...Let's see

1. Went back to Lucca for some much need rest and recovery. I think I might have said that in the previous blog, but I really, really need it. I also was very excited to get my package for my bday from my mom that had been in customs for 2 weeks, but I never got it. That was sad, hopefully after this trip it will get delivered. Keep my fingers crossed!

2. We heading off to Holland and Belgium again to race Fleche.

3. I had my Birthday in Holland and the restaurant made me this beautiful desert!

4. Raced Fleche (first race as a 28 year old)

5. Had a really good and hard race as a 28 year old. Just look at my face!

6. First time getting away from the group, solo, but not for very long. It was still fun!

7. I loved seeing all the little (or some times big) sheep. They are so cute, especially the little lambs. I got to feed them! They stick there tongue out when they talk.

8. We had a new crew for Fleche. Katheryn Mattis, Christine Thorburn, and Ali's parents.

9. Road the track with our tt bikes to help come up with a better position. I don't have a picture of this, but I do have a picture of Kat's face after it hit the wood. Slick tires and not a lot of speed equals crash on the track. But she was a good sport and got back out there and hopefully dialed in a good tt position for her.

10. I ate a German dinner, Jager Schnitzel, it was pretty good. Here is Kat presenting GERMANY!

11. Katheryn Curi Mattis broke her collar bone again, during Fleche. She was tangled up in a crash going about 50Km an hour and landed hard. We are all so bummed out about it and are sending her healing power! Hang in there Katheryn!!!!

We are headed off to Luxemburg today. We will race tomorrow and then go home (back to Lucca) after the race.

Crashing is never fun!!

2008-04-15T03:48:00.000-07:00

This last trip had it's ups and downs, but most of the trip was good. I got through the racing and felt like I actually race, didn't just hang on for dear life. I was able to help my team and be a part of the race and that was really fun! The last race was going really good, legs didn't feel too bad and I was having good positioning for most of the day. And all of a sudden I found myself on the ground, bike on top of me, not moving. WTF! I have to admit that the crash scared me more than it hurt me. I landed on my left side and thought for sure I had broke my collar bone again. I got up handed my bike to our mechanic Andrew and ran to the car. Lucky, I am fine, no broken bones, just some soreness in my back and neck and some really good bruises and road rash! Wow, I was lucky and I am really glad my collar bone held up this time!

I guess it wouldn't be bike racing if there weren't crashes. I was really lucky through out the four races. I avoided probably about 10 crashes all together, but what can you do when you are taken out from behind.

We (Lauren, Alison and I) are back in Lucca recovering and nursing our wounds. Kat Carroll, Christine Thorburn, and Katheryn Curi Mattis will be joining us on Thursday.

Me and this little girl at the presentation, she was so cute and had on wooden clogs.

The girls being silly.

When you see lots of these, you know the race will be windy!

Belgium

2008-04-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

We have been in Belgium for five days now and it has rained 4 of the days. We got really lucky though, race day it was supposed to be one of the worst storms in the century and we lucked out - no rain, snow, but just a little wind. Although we had pretty nice weather the cobbles were still wet and some even muddy from the storm the night before. There were so many crashes and because of my crappy positioning most of the day I was behind all of them. One point I had to run up the cobble section cyclocross style and I have to say calves are very sore today (due to the running). It was definitely an epic day for me and one of the hardest races I have ever done and I am very pleased that I finished Flanders. Not bad for my first time, but I hope next time I race cobbles I do a better job! Sorry no race pictures, but I do have some picture from our training ride.

Out my hotel window, architecture much different from Italy. Pretty in it's own way, but if I had a choice I would pick Italy to live/train any day.

Most of these areas are pretty flat, as you can see my the picture, no mountains in the back ground to be seen. Yesterday there were hill, but they were short and steep. This was a break in the clouds, it seems like the weather is constantly changing. One minute the sun is out and the next it is cloudy, gray, and raining.

See how everything is so green...it's because of all the RAIN!!!

P.S. I did hear someone yell "go Carmen" on the Muur, who could that have been? If anyone knows please tell me.

Fun riding to the Mediterranean

2008-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

Today was beautiful! We rode to the Mediterranean, had a espresso and then road back. It was a fabulous ride (are you tired of me saying how gorgeous it is here?) Well it is and I am still amazed by it!

Riding along the cost in Viareggio.

Brooke got in last night and will be with us for a couple of weeks.

Big ring (aka Emily), I had to sprint just to catch her up this hill and you guessed it she was in her big ring!

The girls and Jim(he just like one of the girls) at the watering hole. There is one in each town!

Lame Picture taker

2008-03-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

I have been really bad about having my camera with me to take pictures and then the one time I brought it, I ran out of batteries! But I did get a few shots before it ran out. I went to the store today and bought more, but I am soon going to run out of money because the Euro to the Dollar has gotten so bad.

This is our apartments at the SRM villa, I would show you the pool but it is under construction.

This is our van (don't worry we don't ride in this one), our bikes do.
View from the race start, you can see all the way to the ocean. Saturdays race start was even more beautiful.

We have lemon trees right outside our door. It's wonderful you can just go pick fresh lemons and they are wonderful!

More Pictures to come. We will be in Lucca this week and then leave on Thursday for Belgium for 2 weeks. Hopefully I will have a lot to report from that trip.

Tired - not much to say

2008-03-27T01:53:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say I am tired from racing and training so hard, but I am tired from not being able to sleep. I need to sleep!!!

The WC was really fun, I felt really good and was able to help my team! Luckily the not being able to sleep started only a few nights before the race so I was still rested and ready to race.

Hopefully I will be a little better about taking pictures, it is absolutely beautiful here and need to share it with all of you. I will post more pictures in a couple of days.

LUCCA!!!

2008-03-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, Lucca Italy is beautiful. After a rough trip to Europe (getting motion sick and throwing up in the air plane and then several times after that) I am very happy to be here. The apartments we are staying in are awesome, let me tell you top of the line!

The weather is not great, it has been cloudy and this after noon it started raining and hasn't stopped. Luckily we got in a ride this morning. We went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was really cool. The ride to Pisa was beautiful, had small little roads, and very old houses. I loved it. I don't know how some cars fit through those small roads. Impressive. Here are some pictures.

Megan, Alison, and Lauren. Cars go on this road, yes it's a road!

Lauren and I with the leaning tower of Pisa.

Off to Europe

2008-03-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

I am going to be very surprised if any of my luggage arrives in Italy...Yeah that's right! I got up at 4:15 this morning to head to the airport. We arrived and to my surprise there was a line. This is Durango Airport, one of the smallest airports I have ever seen, they only have one terminal. Well, I walk in the airport and asked the lady in front of me "are you on the 6am flight?" She replied yes and then the check in lady said we are having problems with the computers this morning so we thank you for your patients. I really wasn't worried about making the flight since everyone in line was on the flight. (only one going out) I got up to the counter and I shit you not they are hand writing all the tickets and baggage tags. Wow I thought to myself this can't be good, how are they going to scan my bags in on 4 different flights. This is going to be a nightmare. Well, my bags got to Denver at least. I am not sure they will make the next flight, but I will keep my fingers crossed.

First Race in the US

2008-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

We are in Exeter California racing the Sequoia Classic. Today was a 40km time trial and tomorrow we have a 90 minute crit. Ouch!

Today was awesome racing on our new bikes! And wow they are fast! Just look at it, wow that's a fast bike!

The scenery was gorgeous and Aarons team did a wonderful job!

Here are the top ten results:

1 Kristin Armstrong

2 Rhodes Alex

3 Felicia Gomez

4 Anne Samplonius

5 Katharine Carroll

6 Leigh Hobson

7 Mara Abbott

8 Molly Van Houweling

9 Kristin Sanders
10 Carmen McNellis

Meredith had a unfortunate mechanical and was unable to finish the race.

Hopefully tomorrow goes well!

Pictures and Stuff

2008-03-08T16:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I am almost recovered from the hard racing and brutal travel. I think I traveled for 32 hours straight! That sucked!

I am back in the cold weather and hating it. I left 90 degree weather to come to the cold land of Durango and it's been in the 30 and 40 the past week. Well, at least the roads are clear and I can ride outside and I don't have to be on the trainer.

Feeding seagulls french fries, wow they loved them, they came by the hundreds.

Kangaroos hanging out at the golf course.

New Zealand was beautiful. This was the day of the tt and the wind was brutal! Just look at the waves and grass!

The day of the presentation some High School students performed the Haka dance. They use to do this dance before they went into battle. It's a pretty intense dance.

Another beautiful picture of New Zealand!

Almost Home

2008-03-03T16:24:00.001-08:00

I successfully completed my first international stage race and World Cup! I had a wonderful time the past two weeks getting to know new team mates and race my bike.

Our wonderful swanee found this golf course were you could eat dinner and see kangaroo's. It was awesome, there was so many just hanging out eating the grass. I think this was a momma and a baby.

We got to New Zealand last week and it was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures, I was really tired most of the time and the didn't have time to "site see." Luckily Alison is sharing pictures with me so between her pictures and mine I have some to share!

This is a group of school kids who presented at our pre race introduction. They danced and sang for us. They performed the Haka, which is a tribal dance performed before going into battle. The all blacks (rugby team) performs the dance before they play. It is really cool check out this website.

We had a five hour lay over in Sydney, so Chrissy, Alison, and I left the airport and walk to a little town called Wallie Creek. It was great, we found a coffee shop at lunch and relaxed. Much better than sitting in the airport for 5 hours!

I have more pictures on my camera, so I will down load them and put them on the blog when I get home. DIA has free internet, so I can pass my time by writing a blog!

Down Under

2008-02-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

I am in Australia, racing the Geelong Tour and Geelong World Cup! It has been a blast and we head out tomorrow for New Zealand for a 5 day stage race. The racing has been great and the down times have been fun too. Here are some pictures.

Well it seems like I am not able to load any pictures. I will try again later.
sorry...

LOTS OF SNOW!!!

2008-01-30T15:29:00.000-08:00

I finally made it home after 2 days of Airport travel and it has snowed an insane amount in Durango. I haven't seen snow like this since 1993. What a good winter to move back to Durango. Denver (that is were I moved from) has not had a lot of snow and temperatures have been in the 60's! I'm not jealous or anything!

Can you see a car?...

...45min later. Oh, there's the car!

I had to stop because my back and arms started to hurt. Maybe I am not shoveling the correct way, or maybe I have turned into a major wimp when it comes to winter and snow!

Aaron's Team Camp 2008!

2008-01-25T23:08:00.000-08:00

So I left snowy Durango to come to rainy Santa Cruz, CA. I am not joking when I say that it has not stopped raining since we arrived to our house in Santa Cruz.

This is the last time that I saw blue sky. What a beautiful sunset, and then the clouds rolled in and that was that.

The first day we had our photo shot and we had a wonderful time playing around and playing model. Man we looked good, a bunch of hot women (not girls CP), I bet the photographers liked that! We got to ride the trainers, to cold and wet (raining non stop) to go outside. This was sad for all of us!

Meredith, Erika, Alison, and Rebecca.

Today we got to go to Specialized! It was awesome. They have such a great facility and the staff is wonderful. We (the team) joined some of the guys and Eron for the lunch time ride. It rained, and rained, and rained some more. But is was really fun and I am glad we sacrificed being out in the rain. It turned into a really fun time and didn't even complain about the rain once. Sorry didn't bring my camera to specialized or on the ride. So here is a picture of Catherine Powers and I.

No one hoards food better than a cyclist! Meredith got a apple pie from Chad (Sram Guy) and we ate some of it in the room. Don't worry, we didn't eat all of it and we, well Meredith shared it with the rest of the girls.

Hope for no rain! It's only a 70% chance of rain tomorrow, better than 90%! For more pictures go to Kristin's Blog!

Pictures, Camp #2

2008-01-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well, we left sunny California to come to cold and snowy Salt Lake City. But I can't complain that much because we have had such a great experience learning about our bodies and lost of other stuff.

Here is our last ride in Cali, it was beautiful with a high of 70 plus degrees! It was such a nice change from Durango.

Andy and Viggo at the track before we got started. Andy always has his large cup of coffee. He needs it, he had some long days last week.

After Cali we ventured of to SLC to have a packed schedule visiting TOSH. Lucky this was our recovery week so we didn't need to log a bunch of hours on the bike. We haven't ridden outside since we got here, all on the trainer. I guess I better get us to it, I am coming home to very cold weather in Durango. I think the high for most days are some were in the 20's. It is the last day and this is what we have done the past week.
1. Bike Fit
2. Blood Test
3. Physical
4. EKG - my heart is working fine!
5. VO2, LT, and Economy test
6. Nutrition Talk
7. Got our new Skins!
8. Esols!
9. Training Peaks
10. 3PQ test - measures strength
11. Myers-Briggs (what is your personality?)

We (the girls of the group) got to meet with the wonderful nutritionist, Nanna, to learn some easy recipes and talk a little more in depth about nutrition. We cooked up some great food. Here is Chrissy getting all the water out of tofu, she did a great!

Jim, he's practically a girl, got to come and participate in the nutrition discussion. The USADA guy came alone too, I guess he was checking up on us to make sure we were being legal.

I am not home yet, but I get to fly out tomorrow. It's been a long two weeks and am really excited to get home and start practicing everything I learned in SLC!

Track Camp #2

2008-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

We are back for Camp #2 and I have stayed healthy so far and it's day 3. Last time I didn't post any pictures of the track and how steep it is, I didn't even know how steep it was until I walked up to the top of the corner and looked down. WOW it's almost vertical, you don't even notice it's that steep when you are on it.

This is looking at turn 4.

This is looking down at the track in between turn 3 and 4. It's pretty steep!

I will post more, we are here for 8 days.

Airports, Airplanes, Delays, Packing, Unpacking, etc...

2008-01-05T11:23:00.000-08:00

The Flight Attendant: “Sorry for the delay, we are currently having difficulties with the weight of the plane and the conditions. We are either going to have to unload a few passengers or eleven bags.”
Passengers then make unhappy remarks. 10:10, 10:15, 10:25, 10:40 (we were supposed to depart at 10:00). I take a look at my ticket again and my connecting flight in Denver leaves at 11:51. (I think I might make it)

We finally take off and I am hopeful. We finally arrive at DIA and it is 11:30. I think to my self I think I can make it. Hopefully the gate will be close. We are approaching the gate and everyone is getting antsy looking at there tickets and watches. Well, I finally got off the plane, it's 11:46! Can I make it? What do I do?

a. Think to myself here is no way, accept defeat, and head to the help desk.

b. My competitive nature kicks in and I decide to make a run for it.

c. Cause a commotion and yell at the flight attendant for making me miss my flight.

B is the right answer! I get off the plane and take a look at the TV departure times and see, oh yes, my flight is delayed. I am not sure how delayed, so I decide to book it to the other gate pretending that I am some Kenya runner (which is definitely not the case, I won’t run). But none the less I run and I mean run (probably 6 min miles) and make it to the gate. Did I mention that the gate I arrived at was B65 and my departing gats is B15, that’s all the way on the other side of the terminal. I run down the terminal, through the court yard, and down the other terminal. Well, let me tell you my little legs did a great job and I made it, with plenty of time to spare, about 2 hours worth of time. My flight was delayed and I have 2 hours to kill. Good thing DIA has free internet. I guess I got in a good workout!

It's not cold here!

2007-12-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

I got so sick of the cold weather and riding inside, I picked up and headed down to Phoenix. It was so nice today I road in Shorts! Do you see the sun in the upper left corner? Yea that's right you Coloradoans no snow on the side of the roads!

Do you notice anything different about this cyclist? (hint look at the head, our bike line bikers don't look like this) For some reason this really amused me.

My awesome coach, Corey Hart, hooked me up with a place to stay at his clients house down in Phoenix. Melissa and Art, they are wonderful! Oh, and I can't forget there very cute dog Ouray. The first night I got to Phoenix they cooked me a steak dinner! Tonight we are having smoked salmon!

Happy New Years! Can't wait to ride tomorrow.

Sunny weather = Happy Carmen

Track Camp Finished

2007-12-20T15:41:00.000-08:00

I have no pictures, sorry. It is kind of a bitter sweet for me leaving track camp. I missed out on a couple of days so I wasn't ready to leave the track. But I am excited to go home and start feeling better.

I am still pretty congested and it has now moved into my chest. I have developed this nice deep cough. I get some pretty awful glares at the airport with this nice cough. On my first flight before we took off, I had a coughing fit and the lady that was sitting in my row got up and left. She moved to another open seat. (I guess I would have done the same thing)

All in all I did have a good time at camp. I wish I could have been healthy, but at least we have one more in January!

Good luck to the girls who are doing the World Cup. Go fast, turn left, and don't stop pedaling. I am sure you all will kick some a##!

Still sick no fun!

2007-12-17T20:53:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days of camp have not been very fun. I am still pretty congested and really just want to breath through my nose. I did get to ride today and that was much better than sitting in my room and sleeping all day. Tomorrow I get to go to the track! We will see how it goes. So until tomorrow...

Track Camp

2007-12-15T17:05:00.000-08:00

This is day 2 at Track Camp and I am SICK! SUCKS!

I know I have been a bad blogger, but I have been very busy working, trying to training, and trying to stay warm.

So I am was off to sunny LA and couldn't wait for the warm weather! I arrived Thursday and we put our bikes together and road to the beach.

Alison Powers, Kristin Armstong, Katharine Carroll, and Lauren Franges.

Day 1 of Training Camp:
1. Road for the first time in pursuit position

2. First time doing a standing start - man that was hard

3. First time doing a pursuit - was really fun, not as scary as I was anticipating

4. First time to go that fast on a track

5. First time to change a gear - Thanks Andrew for your help!

Here I am during the warm up for the day.

This is Kat, Alison Powers, and I doing a flying 1500. This was really fun, much better than doing it by your self.

It was Alison's Birthday, so we went to the cheesecake factory.

And yes we did sing her happy birthday. Here is her bday cake, it was delicious.

Last night after we got back from dinner, my throat started to hurt. :( Kristin game me oil of oregano and wow does that stuff burn and taste bad. We will see if it works.

Day 2 of Training Camp:

Woke up this morning and my throat still hurts. Road over to the track with the girls. Did warm up with them. Look how steep the turns are. I was later sent back to the hotel to rest and get better. I have been downing the zinc and airborn. Hopefully I can get better before if gets worse. I slept a lot today and feel a little better right now. Send good thoughts to me so I can get back out there!

Thanksgiving and Snow

2007-11-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been absolutely beautiful weather the past couple of months and it was bound to happen that we would get some snow. I guess I just wasn't prepared to get 5 inches in one day.

Thanksgiving was awesome, we (Anne Slam, Brandon, Molly Hummel, and I) road to Vallecito Lake today. It was gorgeous weather and I was actually hot at times. (b/c I was overdressed not because it was 80 degrees)

My dad took some photos of all of use, but didn't realize it was on video setting so I have no pictures of the gang, but two short videos. Here is Anne showing off that she really was a Vallecito.

We had great food, wine, and fun at my dad's house. Brandon and I took the kids over to the park to play. I think Brandon had more fun that the girls. Just look at his face!

The next day I wasn't prepared for all the snow. Anne and I took

the girls to Miller Middle School and played in the field. Little Carmen wanted to get berried, so we all joined in the fun of covering her with snow. I guess when you are 6 years old you don't care about how cold and wet you are going to get.

I guess it is time to suck it up and start training in the freezing cold weather. I just can't wait!!! Right!

Bad Blogger!!

2007-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have been a very bad blogger.

Excuse #1. Really busy

Excuse #2. I really don't know what I have been busy with

Excuse #3. Really busy

Excuse #4. Got a job (see there is something)

Excuse #5. Really jealous of the bikers who don't have to work

Excuse #6. I guess that was a little bitter

Excuse #7. Training

Excuse #8. Sleeping

Excuse #9. I really don't have an excuse, just not too many exciting things going on. Off season is kind of boring.

Things I have done in the past couple of weeks:

Go to Boulder to visit and train with some of my favorite girls.

Sharon made fun of me when I wanted to take a picture of her taking a picture of me. But she really liked it, and she got to get a picture of me on her new camera! What more would someone want! Plus I get bored and a little silly on four hour rides. (and she likes to be silly with me)

Saturday Catherine Powers, Anne Samplonius, Sharon, and I all had a wonderful ride out to Carter Lake. It wasn't windy, it was warm out, no snow or rain, and did I mention its NOVEMBER!!! What is going on?!

Sunday it was even warmer! No leg warmers!!! Sharon missed out on this ride, but Whitney Henderson joined us!!!!

Since then I headed back to Durango. Training a lot, working in the afternoon, it's great weather, can't complain!!!

I had a great group of women to train with on Saturday and we had great weather again!!! Can't really complain about much. I didn't bring my camera so maybe next weekend I can take more pictures.

Can't wait till tomorrow. Last day of school for the week. I am more excited than the students. I am counting the hours.

Halloween

2007-10-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Brandon and I took my nieces trick or treating tonight. It was a little rocky at first. The girls didn't really know trick or treating etiquette. We recognized this and quickly gave the girls a crash course before we hit the next house. They came home with so much candy, my pore dad and Margaret who have to deal with the sugar high and the sugar crash.

I always enjoy all of the kids dressing up. Subbing today at Miller Middle School was great. We ate candy, watched movies, carved pumpkins, and best of all figured out the circumference, volume, density, and mass of the pumpkins!!!

Savannah in her very cute lady bug outfit.

Church of the High Pines

2007-10-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today I went on a wonderful ride with the church or the high pines.

Thanks guys for letting me tag along.

I have been in Durango for a week and the views never get old!

DURANGO

2007-10-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

I am in Durango now and rode yesterday and couldn't believe how beautiful it is here. How lucky am I to be able to train in such a gorgeous place. Catherine Powers and I on my last training ride in Boulder. I am really going to miss having so many people to train with. I guess I better make some cycling friends here in Durango.

Jody and Lee's wedding was a blast! Congrats to them! Jody, you looked absolutely beautiful. (and Lee you didn't look to bad either)

"It Could be worse"

2007-10-03T17:06:00.000-07:00

So we headed up to West Palm Beach to visit Kristen and her husband Todd. We went out to dinner at a sports bar and apparently there motto is bigger is better. Kristen even got to watch sports on the TV while going to the bathroom. Here is a picture of Todd and his meal.

Either Todd is a very small guy or the sandwich is very large. You decide.

Then off to the cruise...More rain and this was no fun because it made the waves very large and made me very sick. Brandon and I were one of the few couples who made it to dinner that night. The next morning was overcast and raining, YEA MORE RAIN. We tried to stay positive and headed of the ship to the beach (one of the 6 couples leaving the cruise). Well, I am glad we did because it turned out to be a beautiful day. We hung out at the beach and pool all day. It was definitely one on the best days yet.

So our new motto is "it could be worse." We got to the new Ramada tonight and it was much nicer, no trailer park, "it could be worse!"

Ft. Lauderdale + Ramada = Lame!

2007-09-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

Brandon and I are on our vacation and it has been very interesting. The first two nights we stayed in Miami Beach and it was awesome. We stayed right by the beach in the art deco district. The hotel was really nice, with clean rooms and a roof top bar. We hung out with Miles (who just moved here from Denver) both nights. He showed us a great time. We ate great food, laid on the beach, road the cruiser bikes down the beach path, and went shopping. Brandon and I on the deck waiting for Miles before we headed out to a magazine premiere for Miles work. A lot of "fancy" people at this event.

We were very satisfied with our vacation so far...and then we headed to Ft. Lauderdale and a black cloud has been following us around ever sense.

I hate this place!!!!! We checked in to our hotel (this all inclusive 4 start resort - NOT) and the people were RUDE, the hotel is DISGUSTING, swimming pool BROKEN, fitness facility SUCKS, our 4 star resort view is a TRAILER PARK, and it's been RAINING so we can't go to the beach!

SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS!!!!!!

So my awesome teammate is going to rescue us! We are going to go to Kristin's house this afternoon and stay the night with her. We leave the tomorrow to go on our cruise and I can't wait.

I probably wont have Internet on the cruise, so I will blog when we get to Orlando in a couple of days.

Off season!

2007-09-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

Off season came early this year because of my broken clavicle. Even though I had to miss a couple of races and I have to admit I have been a little jealous reading others blogs about racing. I am getting through it and having a good time.

Off Season List of stuff...

1. Brandon and I have got to spend a little more well needed quality time together.

2. Not riding the bike everyday I have got to enjoy other forms of exercise (a little less intense)

3. I went on a lot of hikes, which I didn't know how sore my hips and hip flexers could get.

4. Brandon said to my soreness, "well maybe you should walk more."

5. I am a cyclist, why walk?

6. Moved to Durango. Forgot how wonderful this place is!

7. Working a lot more, wow I didn't know how much time training took up.

8. Collar bone healing up. Can't wait to get back on the bike outside!

9. Need to find a job in Durango!

10. Sleeping on peoples couches is not that fun! Can't wait to move to Durango for good.

New Home!

2007-09-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged lately because I have been soooo busy!!!! Brandon and I moved to Durango! The past week and a half has been crazy packing, driving a truck to Durango, unpacking, and driving back to Denver to finish up teaching.

My collar bone is healing up fast, hopefully I will be back riding outside in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to start training in Durango it will be great!

We are renting our condo in Denver. If you know anyone that might be interested here is a picture. We are renting it for $1250. We also have a posting on craigslist.

Pictures and Stuff

2007-09-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Here is our team at Al Toona. We had a great time and it was nice not to have to cook after such a long day on the bike!
Clay on one of our rides at the OTC Camp. Hope you are healing up!

Powers, TJ Rules, and I at the hospital after my accident. TR Rules was awesome she really helped me out.

My awesome Doctor! Told you we would put you on the blog!

Broken Again

2007-08-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to blog for the past week or so and something is always going wrong. My computer was not working or I have accesses to Internet and then when I want to blog the wireless isn't working, my battery dies when I am finished with the blog and trying to publish, etc... So hopefully this time it's a go!

A lot has been happening:
1. Brandon got a job in Durango and we are moving!
2. I had a wonderful last few days at the OTC check out the blog on our team website
3. Started working at CCD (community College of Denver) again. I forget how much I really so like to teach. But I forgot how hot it is in a building with no AC.
4. Crashed along with half of the field at Crit Nationals and broke my clavicle
5. Put tissue under my arm pit to try to help the sweating. Having an arm in a sling and a room at about 80 degrees is not fun. The students looked at me like I was crazy!
6. Went to the doctors, more xrays
7. Got a CT scan. I have an acute fracture in the dense callus of the subclavicle
8. Still waiting to see what the doctor has to say about different options
9. Surgery or not?

I don't have any picture right now. I do have some great ones that I will try to post later.

2007-08-10T20:23:00.001-07:00

I was very fortunate to be invited to the Women's Endurance Talent ID Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Other "new" talents that were invited: (left to Right) Ashley Anderson, Me(Carmen McNellis), Carol Hutton, Susannah Pratt, Megan Guarnier, Marissa Asplund, and Shelly Olds.

Day one: This was, for most of us, our first or second time on the track. Bikes with no brake, no gears, and worst of all fix gear (no coasting, you can't stop pedaling). Well, I guess you could stop pedalling but the outcome would not be so pretty. Luckily we all survived a really long morning on the track. We had lunch and then went on a great ride through the Garden of The Gods. Later that afternoon (evening) we had a presentation by USADA, nutrition discussion, and meet with a sport Psych. They sure kept us busy for the first day.

Day two: We started of the morning by completing a timed flying 2k on the Track. For you who have no idea what that first sentence was saying...We had to go as hard as we could around the track for 6 laps. The flying part means we didn't start for a standing position, we had speed going into it. We had a little more down time today, which was nice because my legs didn't feel that great from being on the track for 2.5 hours the previous day. Dirk Friel spoke to us about Training Peaks and then we were off to the track again for evening races. Every Tuesday and Thursday they have evening races at the Velodrome in Colorado Springs. Jim gave us the opportunity to race and I was glad we did because it was a blast. I came out with one win and 2 seconds. Not to bad for my first night of track racing.

Day 3: This morning we did some testing in the lab. Not much fun. I was pretty tired from the night before doing so many efforts. I was able to get in a quick needed nap. This afternoon we had beautiful weather and road a nice 3hr ride through the Air Force Academy. Now it is time for bed, more testing tomorrow!

We have two more days left so tune in for another update!

Tour de Toona is over!

2007-08-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, I was to tired to blog when I was racing and finally feel a little recovered. I have never raced so hard and long in my life! I am glad it is over, but can't wait to go back next year.

Here are some pictures...

Team Time Trial. We were going so fast the picture is fuzzy. This was the very fun, but very hard. I wish we did more of these!

Eating dinner after one of the many hard stages! It was nice not have to cook for ourselves this night. We were all pretty tired after each stage.

Kat Carroll got 3rd!

Felicia was awarded the QOM Jersey!

Top ten - we finished up with a 4th and 9th place!

Day 2

2007-07-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Didn't think a 50 plus mile race could be so hard!

My legs didn't feel to great to begin with, not a good thing when you get to the first climb and discover it is a lot steeper than you thought it would be. I attacked right before the base of the climb, not knowing it was coming so soon. My attack didn't work as I was chased down and we headed up the steep pitches I got dropped fast. I hung on and got back into the caravan and back into the main Field. Legs burning, I stayed with this group until about 10k to go and finally didn't have enough to hang on.

Today was a rough day - definitely didn't feel my best today. Oh well, every day can't be a good day and it was bound to come. Hopefully tomorrow I can get my legs back and finish off a better day.

Sorry no picts

Altoona, PA - DAY ONE

2007-07-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

WOW - who new a team time trial would be so hard. We finished up 4th today out of about 20 teams.

It's late and time to go to bed, more tomorrow.

No Broken Bones!

2007-06-27T07:05:00.001-07:00

It's good to be home and it's especially good because I made it through with no broken bones! For more in depth racing updates at Nature Valley take a look at our team blog.

Carmen's Quick Recap:

Day 1: Travel day - got settle in with our awesome host family (the Johnsons) they have two beautiful little girls.
Day 2: St Paul Crit - Fast and a lot of crashes
Day 3: Cannon Falls RR - We got the Sprinter Jersey
Day 4: Time Trial and Minneapolis Crit - both flat and fast, kept the Sprinters Jersey
Day 5: Mankato RR - long day with defending the sprinters Jersey - hard circuit, but stayed tough for a 9th place finish. (Felicia took 3rd and Kristin took 5th)
Day 6: Stillwater Crit - dropped chain on 2nd lap - bike change on 3rd lap, race was over before it started. Chased hard, but pulled about 7 laps into it. But the good news NO BROKEN COLLAR BONE!!!!!

I will add photos later. Didn't take that many this go around.

Here is a picture from Paul Forsythe.

Durango

2007-06-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

I am in Durango having a wonderful time training and visiting. I have had some really good rides this past week, but didn't bring my camera (sorry no picts). This last Sunday I road with a group of wonderful people. Thanks to Larry Goldstein I have a great picture.

This is at Bread (a wonderful bakery) before we took off on a beautiful ride up the valley.

Mt Hood

2007-05-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

We are in Hood River racing Mt. Hood Stage Race. It is beautiful here but really, really HOT! I think yesterday it was mid 90's and today high 80's a big change from last years rain and snow.

Stage one: Pro log
This was a 3 mile time trial. Kat Carroll was 3rd, Kristen was 5th, Felicia was 9th, I was 14th, and Michelle was 28th. It was short and sweet - over before you new it.

Stage two: Road Race 86miles
This day was long and slow. No one wanted to work. Value Act did most of the work - they were in the leaders jersey. We had three hard efforts for the QOM (Queen of the Mountain). And then the down hill finish. This stage was bitter sweet. We won the QOM - we had awesome team work and set Felicia up perfect each time. Felicia did an awesome job of securing her win. The finish was a bit crazy. It was down hill sprint and we just ran out of people to do work to have a good finish. Didn't end up with any stellar results. But we do have the climbers jersey.

Stage Three: Circuit Race 66miles
This was an awesome day. We had great team work and had a bunch of fun. I attacked on the second lap and my teammate Kristen attacked and got away for 2.5 laps solo. She was amazing! She got caught 2k to go and then Kat Carroll and Felicia put in a great attack which they ended up one and two for the stage. We road smart and had a great plan from the start. Wonderful. We are now in the leaders jersey and climbing jersey. WOW what a day.

More to come....

We all took turns at different elementary school and did bike presentations. The kiddos were so cute!

Previewing the time trial course for Friday. It is a really gorges course!

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW

2007-05-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

So Brandon and I left Denver to have a little get a way and do some good training at altitude in Breckenridge. And wouldn't you know it, its SNOWING!!!!! F#$K, SOB!

Look it is snowing so hard you can't even see the mountains!

Well Brandon and I are going to brave the snow and ride. Then get massages for being so hard core. If it is snowing tomorrow I guess we will head back to Denver and ride from there.

Another Big WIN!

2007-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

We had a great day today. It was a crit and our team road like super stars! Kat Carroll ended the stage race with a win with Sarah Caravella 2nd. This secured Kat's overall GC win.

I had a good day helping out the team and finishing with the main sprint group. My legs hurt and felt very tired but I did my job and felt like it was a successful weekend of racing.

Here are some pictures enjoy!

Hard Day

2007-05-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of first time experiences today.

got a flat in a race
chased back to the pack through the caravan and then through all the people who got dropped
followed my teammate the rest of the way to the pack
helped pulled a teammate back from getting a mechanical
raced a double day (RR and the an up hill tt)
took a picture of a one eyed pug

Our team had a rough morning, but it ended well with our teammate Kat Carroll holding her position as race leader.

I don't have any race pictures for today but I do have pictures of the one eyed pug named Chad.

Chad obviously has only one eye, but what you don't know is that his tong always hangs out on the right side. Even when his mouth isn't open. They even have a picture on there wall of him with his one eye and tong hanging out.

Day 1 of Racing

2007-05-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Wow what a day we started in the rain and ended in the rain, but most importantly we WON!!!!!

Kat Carrol (aka bad ass) sprinted Laura VanGilder for the win. The race started out pretty low key with a few attacks from Target Training, Webcore and some other small team. Nothing got away. We started the climb and webcore set tempo for a while and then some attacks, nothing got away. Our team set tempo for a while and then a smaller team got away solo, no one wanted to chase. The person put in a good effort and got almost 2 minutes into us and then we started to Chase. We caught her with about 15miles to go and nothing else went. It came down to a sprint!

We are back at the host house and resting. Tune in for more tomorrow!

On the Road Again

2007-05-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

Joe Martin Stage Race!

I am so happy to be racing again. It has seemed like it's been two months, but it's really only been three weeks.

We arrive, to Fayetteville Arkansas yesterday afternoon. Our host family is wonderful and the house is gorgeous! Our host family Mom took us on a little ride around town. It is really pretty here.

Michelle and Felicia on the back road of Fayetteville.

Felicia and I trying to take a picture while riding, not a good idea before a race. We didn't crash each other out, but it was pretty tricky!

Today we road the tt course. The day started out really nice and then after our second time up the course it started to rain and oh did it rain! Then when we got back to the van the clouds parted and birds were signing. Of course, Murphy's law.

The girls in the van. Starting in the front Michelle, Catherine, back seat (behind Catherine) Sarah, Felicia, and Kristen.

A huge bug caught a ride back to our host housing and wow it was big.

Another year older

2007-04-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

W0w it's been a tough couple of weeks, but I survived and everything is going great!

It's been a while since I blogged last, let's see...

Got a pedicure with my new teammate Michelle. She is from New Zeland and never experienced the wonderful world of the pedi and mani's, so I took her with me!

Michelle and I after an hour of getting pampered. Oh - and this is my new camera that I got for my birthday!!!! Mom - good choice, now I can have a ton of pictures on my blog!

My Birthday Party we had a great time - plenty of food and wine.

Sharon "the hammer" bought me a wonderful bday cake. What a gal!

Brandon and I riding Saturday after my birthday through tiny town.

That's life!

2007-04-06T16:43:00.000-07:00

When it rains it pours! That has been the my life for the past two weeks.

First my truck gets broken into while I was gone to Redlands racing.

Then my father has a double bipass the second to last day at Redlands.

When I get home to Denver it dumps 6 in. of snow (can't ride my bike in that).

While in Durango helping take care of my father my wedding ring got "taken" from the store.

Wow I am really in for some good luck soon.

Picts from Redlands

2007-03-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Redlands... Everyone has to have a chucky doll at there host housing. I don't think people liked getting into bed and finding Chucky, but we sure thought it was funny. Especially when Carmen (our director) found it one night in the drivers seat.

Sara had a hard weekend of racing. Sick and the a crash at the crit left her feeling sore and tired, but she handle it like a rock star and even started the next day. She's a tough chick!

Our host family Rocks!!!

Catherine and Sara looking pretty HOT!

Recovery Ride with Rebecca and Kat Carroll.

Rebecca and Sara - Wow Sara seems to be in almost every photo. What's that about? That's ok we lover her!

Redlands!

2007-03-23T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have been having a wonderful time at Redlands this year!

Ten good things and bad things about this trip!
1. Good - No Bronchitis this year! Wow that really makes a difference
2. Bad - limited cell reception at our host housing
3. Good - Found out how to work for a team, much harder than being the only rider on your team
4. Bad - After working so hard - my legs are trashed (especially going up the last climb after pulling for the last 6 miles)
5. Good - Got a massage when we got back!
6. Bad - still can't walk down the stairs
7. Good - roommate Kat Carroll does laundry for me!
8. Bad - realized how hard it is to eat after such a hard stage
9. Good - Our host family is awesome and cooked us dinner tonight - so finally when i was hungry and not trying to force feed myself i ate a wonderful meal
10. Good - (sorry for you OCD people, but I couldn't end on a bad) I really like my team and I am so happy to be part of Aarons!!!!

I will post pictures later!!!

End of the first start of the second

2007-03-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

WOW - what a race we finished 3rd! It was fast and flat! There was a little confusion with the lap cards. We saw 5 laps to go and the 2 laps to go. Our team sprinter set up for the final sprint and when hard and finished 2nd, but it wasn't really the final lap. Oops! Rebbecca ended up getting to the front and finished 3rd.

We got to Redlands Monday and the weather has been kind of cold and rainy, but the riding has been good.

We race tomorrow and I am really excited! More to report later.

i forgot my camera cord so I will have to get pictures later.

Our team did start a new blog click here. CHECK IT OUT!!!

My team mate Kat Carroll has more about our trip.

First NRC

2007-03-17T16:56:00.000-07:00

I flew into Fresno yesterday - wow it was a long day!
I got up at 4:30 to catch my flight and then off to my first NRC (national racing calander) of the year. I met up with my teammates and we went to a after school program to talk to some elementary students. Pictures will come later.

It was very adorable ... Questions (comments) like: Ummmm... my dad has a bike, I practice game cube, What happens when your handle bars brake, What happens when all of you guys fall down? It was very cute!

I was a little nervous today, but not as bad as Valley of the Sun race. The race today was an 18mile time trial with a big hill and rolling hills with false flats. It was HARD! I don't know when the last time I did that type of effort. My teammates did great! Kat Carrol got 6th, Felicia got 6th, Rebecca came in 13th, I got 22nd and 25 for Cathrine Powers. So all of us in the top half the the group - fantastic. Check out the results.
Oh and I can't leave out Miss Sarah who was awesome helping us repair for today.

Tomorrow we have a crit in Visalia and I can't wait for Sarah to rock it!

Stuff to sale so I can pay my mortgage

2007-03-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here is some stuff I am trying to sale so I can pay my mortgage over the summer.

These are specialized shoes that I bought last year and only used for part of the year (due to my broken collar bone). They are awesome shoes, but I can't ware them this year because I have to ware the team shoes. They retail for about $250 at least! I am asking for $100. They are size 39 in European (about 8.5 in us).

This awesome bike has only been ridden a handful of time. It goes along the same lines as the shoes. I bought it and then didn't get to race it b/c of my broken collar bone. It has dura ace components with an fsa crank. I am selling $2900. Size of frame small

This Eddy Merckx has all campy record components with a carbon crank. It is in great condition! It has an aluminum frame (race) and carbon parts (seat post, bars, fork). Size is 50 cm. It has ascent II wheel set (fast!) I am selling for $2300.

Email me if you are interested in any of these items at carmensmall@yahoo.com

I am also selling my zip 404 on eBay right now click here.

NO MORE SNOW!

2007-02-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I am home and it's going to snow again! I am ready to be out in California riding and racing my bike. But instead, I live in the real world and I have to work to pay bills and mortgage. I'm not putting down people who get to do this, I'm just jealous and bitter about it.

I promised pictures and I only one blog worthy.

Well maybe two.

Beth Fisk (former teammate) and I after the Time Trial . . .

and the Crit.

Hopefully more pictures to come . . .

Finished the First Race!!!!

2007-02-18T15:44:00.000-08:00

It's done and I am in good form (no broken bones)!
Race 2:30 - Flight leaving 5:15 MADE IT!
I am sitting here with time to spare waiting for the plane. I literally race and then race to the airport to catch my flight. Luckily there was no wait - in check in or security.

Race Stuff:
Today was the crit and it wasn't bad, except the two crashes and one girl being taken off on a stretcher. I got caught up in the first crash (massive pile up almost half the field), handle bars deformed and brakes rubbing. I went to the pit and got my self and my bike together and I was off. After that the race was much better. I stayed at the front and stayed clear of the second crash (this one much worse, but less people). Then all of a sudden I heard 2 laps to go. Wow were did the race go. I got in decent position into the last corner and race to the finish line. I wish I could have gone into the last corner in the top 5, but oh well, lesson learned. I ended up I think 7th today and 6th in GC.

It was a good weekend. Glad to be done with the first one back from a long wait.

Tune in for pictures in the next couple of days!

Day 2 of VOS

2007-02-17T16:28:00.000-08:00

I forgot how bad the wind can kick your ass!
We started the race today and expresscopy.com attacked with a vengeance from the line. The race was fast and windy. The wind was at our backs up the climb, which was nice, but the girls just got faster. The first time up the hill wasn't bad. The second time up the hill was a QOM and I was in good position and my legs just wouldn't go for the sprint. Then the field split and from then the race just got harder. I stayed in the brake and was really happy to be finished with the 3rd time up the hill. I just needed to hang on and finish with the group. Hang on is what I did and finished just behind the group. Me and two other girls popped up the climb. Oh well, I am happy with my finish today I don't know what place (7th I think), and hopefully I stayed in the top 5.
My legs are tired, but I need to rally for tomorrow!
My wonderful dad (he's been my taxi) got some pictures today so I will have him email them to me and I will post them.
Think good thoughts for tomorrow!!!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!

2007-02-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it and was nervous as hell. After I road this morning the nerves set in. All morning I was a wreck. When we got to the race, my nerves got even worse. I couldn't even eat it was so bad. I got a good warm up in then headed over to the start line and chocked (because I was so nervous) down a power bar gel. Started the race and all my nerves went away, FINALLY.
I had a good race for my first one back. (I placed 4th, not bad) It's been a long haul since June and I am really glad to be back racing my bike.

Now I am really excited about tomorrow, still a little nervous but it wont be as bad as yesterday.
Kori S. won today and my old-teammate Beth Fisk was right behind me in 5th. Good job Beth. Check out more race coverage at her blog http://www.bfisk.blogspot.com/

Hopefully I will have pictures to come!

First Race back!

2007-02-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

So here I am ready to race again (and blog). It was a long season of not getting to race because of my broken collar bone and then a very long COLD, SNOWY winter. I am glad to be in Phoenix where it is warm!

This will be my attempt to start blogging regularly again. I wont have pictures this weekend, but hopefully I can tell a good story for you.

Today was pretty crazy driving all over Phoenix. I finally got settled and it's 9:00pm and I am ready for bed.

Tomorrow is the time trial. I am pretty nervous! Think fast thoughts for me!

2006-11-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

The rest of the trip was very intense with a lot of sight seeing. I was too tired at the end of each day to blog so I am trying to catch up now that we are back.
We walked a lot the last two days. We had a wonderful time in NYC, but glad to be back to the normalcy of life and the low stress life in Colorado.

Brandon and I saw almost everything to see in NYC. Here are some pictures:
For those of you who have been to New York (or seen pictures of), try to guess were these pictures were taken. It will be fun.

Lets see how you did.
Pic 1- Manhattan
Pic 2- Central Park lake
Pic 3- Central Park - inside the park
Pic 4- The Guggenheim
Pic 5- Statue of liberty
Pic 6- Statue of Liberty (battery park)
Pic 7- The rebuilding of the Twin Towers (I think they are naming it Freedom Tower)
Pic 8- At the memorial for the Twin Towers (can you spot the crazy lady, she was ranting and raving about who no's what, well I didn't because it wasn't in English)
Pic 9- Looking outside our hotel room, Broadway and 7th
Pic 10- Looking at ground zero

How did you do?

New York Day 1

2006-11-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

(Brandon and I at the airport waiting to board)

WOW we made it!
We traveled yesterday ALL DAY!! It wasn't suppose to take that long, but heavy winds delayed the flight and then we hit rush hour (well that seems to be all the time in NY). The driving here is insane. We were heading through Lincoln tunnel in a bus and all of a sudden four lanes went into one. Not even one merge lane, I am glad I was sitting a couple of rows back.

Once we finally got to our hotel we were pretty tired and starving. I highly suggest to check out the comments on hotels.com before you book your hotel. We didn't and learned out lesson. The place wasn't too bad, but definitely wasn't what we were expecting. It worked out thought because we really didn't stay there for very long and we have a wonderful place to say at the rest of the time. (Manhattan Sheraton)

Well, we ended up walking with the rest of the tourists and going to times square were we porked out at Buba Gumps. We didn't do much after dinner except walk checking out stores (clothing mostly).

This morning we got up and of course it was raining, but we tuft it out and watched the Macy's thanking parade. We didn't watch the whole thing because the rain really started to pick up, so we went back to our geto hotel and watched the rest of it on TV.

Brandon and I trying to say warm under are $5 umbrella we bought of the street.

Brandon and I trying to warm up in a little Irish pub. We met a gentlemen who recommended an excellent steak house for tonight. So far our encounters with local people has been great.

We are now checked in to our new hotel and it is wonderful. This is also the first place I have been able the blog.

Brandon and I are having a wonderful time and are really looking forward to our nice steak dinner!!!! Maybe this will be a new tradition, no more turkey on Thanksgiving, but STEAK!

Day 2-3 in Durango

2006-11-14T16:27:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't have anything that exciting happen while in Durango because it is Tuesday and I am just getting around to write a blog.

Day 2:
I didn't do much today I went for coffee and wrote day 1 blog and then worked out at the gym, it was really cold!

Oh, I did do something fun. I got to pick out our wedding pictures!!!!! Wow, I didn't know they took so many. My girlfriend and mom help - which was really needed, there were a lot to choose from and we got some good laugh in too.

This picture is awesome - a dear in the background. (can you see it?)
Here is a close up

Here are two more pictures that I thought were pretty awesome.
I guess Whitney doesn't like cats because she is kicking this one!

Day 2:
I spent the night at my moms house and woke up to snow! I couldn't believe it.

I did go for an awesome ride and got to the top of a brutal climb and realized I had forgotten my camera. Oh well, I guess you all miss out. I could see all the way to Farmington (New Mexico). Later that day I went an saw Borat and I am now scarred for life. There were some things I could have lived without ever seeing. I wont spoil it, you will just have to go see on your own.

Day 3:
Drove home - it was really beautiful!

v

Durango Trip Day 1

2006-11-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

I woke up yesterday not looking forward to the long drive to Durango. It is long, but it is beautiful. It usually takes 6 to 7 hours, but I made it in 5 and a half with on stop in Pagosa to see my moms house she's building. I guess I made pretty good time, I only stopped twice.

This dog (Red) comes down the street everyday to hang out with the construction workers.

I jumped on the bike as soon as I got to Durango, I wanted to get a ride in before it got dark. Sucks that by 4:30 the sun is going down. I guess it will time to ride the trainer soon.

My dad and I rode with Dr. G today. Allen, my dad says he is a tough son of a bitch, but I don't think he's too tough since Alison Powers chicked him this year at the Iron Horse. :) Only 5 seconds, but she still bet you Pat!

Here we are at the Bean this morning having some breakfast.

Slacking

2006-11-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I get so excited about starting a blog and then I slack. I guess I got really busy or just really lazy (one of the two you pick).

Not a lot has been going on. I worked at a wine tasting event this weekend distributing water for Fiji. Wow, I never realized how drunk and annoying people got at these events. No wonder why the wine distributors drink the whole time.

This is my sister-in-law, Virginia, setting up for the event. She works for Fiji and is a pro at setting up and taking down. We were ready in no time!

Check out these balloons made into grape clusters, I thought that was very cool!

First time

2006-11-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

Wow I am so excited to start my blog. I really don't have anything very interesting to share with the rest of the world, but it always seems very interesting to me.
I do have some very funny pictures from Halloween. My very best friend and I decided to dress up as 80's aerobics instructors. We had a great time!