Ft. Lauderdale + Ramada = Lame!

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!

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!

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!