k I consider more posts than I write. Here are a few ideas…

1. I love long rides.

I only do a few in my build to IM, so it’s really exciting for me to break out to the Johnson City loop. It’s remarkable how rural it is just 60 minutes outside of Austin. I know my shoes and helmet smell yukky and it’s hot, but my compadres ditched me and I rode alone more than once… here are the friends I met on a couple rides:

2. Pierced ears.

Autumn begged for…. [are you expecting years?] a few days to get her ears pierced. Why not?. She’s almost 9, and I swore I wouldn’t be one of those parents who make kids wait for years for stuff like this. I told her we were going to have some fun girl time and get holes in her head. She resisted for a moment, then got the clue. It was an experience. She said it hurt more than she expected. Hey, pain is temporary….

3. Vermont

Yes, it’s true. I left Texas for 5 days to ride my bike in Vermont. Where there are mountains and it’s not 90 degrees by 9am. Not that I’m complaining, I like 90 degrees by 9am. I think I was the only person in Vermont to wear any type of arm or leg coverings for warm up.

I met my dad in Vermont over Labor Day weekend for a stage race (cycling). It was fun. I shocked everyone with a stage win. My head still easily fits through the door, though. So that you know I’m not cocky, I’ll say this: I was not in GC contention; the 2 Webcor girls could have caught me if they wanted to; it was a solid strategic move.

What went down: 65-mile circuit race (ride out to loop, ride 29-mile loop twice). At the sprint point, I surfed behind the contenders and just rolled off the front when they sat up. When I had about 100 meters, I click-clicked (geared up) and hit it. I knew I had 29 miles to hold, but I gave it a sprint-distance tri effort. Ready to have a chuckle? With 13 miles to go, I was 2 minutes up on the field. I knew they wouldn’t let me finish that far up… anyhow…. I hit a bit of a descent for about 2 miles and then they were only 15 seconds behind. Oops. I literally called out “Ally posess me” at 5k to go… and I held them off for the victory. That’s me, quadzilla-like, on the podium in red.

In the race the following day, if I did it again, I would have attacked again and again to get a group away. It was too slow… then a 4k race straight up the mountain. As if!@!

I raced the crit in the group. It was scarry at first, but once I relaxed (about 7 laps in the 34 lap race), it was fine. I finally didn’t hit the breaks around the final corner on lap 34. Progress.

4. Velocity

Michael (spouse) and I intend to open a Velocity Sports Performance Center in Austin. Check it out. http://www.velocitysp.com/

I’m so excited to contribute to the wellness of the community…

5. Ruby

My dog died. She lived a wonderful life. She would be an IM-dog if there was such a thing.

6. Sister and JuJuBee

We adopted 2 kitties from the Town Lake Animal Shelter. Cute! I’ll have to nab some photos from Autumn and post them…. yeah, I’ll put that on my list. :) :)

7. Ouch

I kept my pre-IM pattern and sprained my ankle. I plan to be able to run by October 11.

!!! Go IM-Wisco-Disco friends!