A New Catchphrase

VELONEWS:

Team CSC has joined the wristband bandwagon this year, but it sports an interesting slogan that isn't raising money for a charity or some do-good organization.

Instead, the letters across the black plastic wristband underscore the team's philosophy in this year's Tour: "Harden the Fuck Up."

"Stuart (O'Grady) brought them for the team in London and asked everyone to wear them," said Team CSC rider Frank Schleck. "If it's tough, we look at the wristband and we do what it says. When it gets hard, you harden up. So far it's worked pretty good."

I will make this my mantra during Mitchell, along with some other good uns that my team has sent me...


Danna said...
"Everyone hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
- some bigshot Euro roadie, I forget

when asked how to get faster: "Mash down harder on the pedals"
- Ned Overend

"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you look while you play the game."
- Danna, quoting some other smartass.

Caroline said...
Okay, this is a quote from one (I think McGruder)of the guys at Mex. last Tueday night in reference to my time trial tonight (7/12). He was quoting a pro sprinter, don't remember who.... anyway, forgive the "bad" word:

"Don't ride like they are going to give you a candy bar if you win...ride like they are going to kill your f'ing girlfriend if you don't!"

And the voice I always hear in my mind when i am racing is Melissa:
"PEDAL-PEDAL-PEDAL-PEDAL!"

Dawn said...
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."
Steve Prefontaine

Amy said...
Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.
-Will Rogers
(Some inspiration to keep moving even when you think your legs might explode if you do:)

This is the week...

This is the week I want to pass quickly. Mitchell is Sunday and then a week of vacation in Charleston. I'm UBER stoked just now.

Hopefully I'll totally "chick" some dudes at Mitchell... or "girl" some dudes. Different strokes for different folks... or at least different vocabulary words anyway :)
http://sherides.biowheels.com/

SERC ~ Clemson

It was an early morning, though not as early as my work week. I actually didn't have to get up until 6:45am and that is sleeping in for me. I scrambled to get everything together and waited for my chariot to arrive. Arthur showed up at 7:45 on the nose and we were off, with Maddee in tow.

We got to the course at 8:30 which is exactly what I wanted, time to register and get my legs warm - WRONG. The line for registration was wrapped around the parking lot and there was only one, that's right folks, ONE person working registration. The guy putting your race number on the back of your leg didn't count. So 30 minutes of precious time was clicked away as I waited.

I got my number, went back to the car and proceeded to get ready. Got kitted up, numbered the bike, grabbed my bottles and Maddee and proceeded to the feed zone. A nice lady was there, sitting in her chair and I asked if she would be so kind as to watch Ms. Maddee while I raced and she obliged. Maddee of course did not like this one bit - "Mommy, you're chaining me to a tree and riding away - that isn't how it works!!!" was Mad's wining reply as I rolled away.

Once I got back down to the start I realized that I REALLY needed to hit the port-a-john... this resulted in strike two for the SERC series organizers as far as I was concerned. There were only two potties and you can imagine how long it took to actually get into one pre-race. 5 minutes seemed like 20 as time slipped away. Once i finally got in and out and back on the bike everyone was already lining up.

I ran across Deb from Asheville who raced Tiger Rag and we did our best impression of two chicks trying to warm up on the road. But being concerned with not missing our start we didn't stray to far and didn't really get much out of what we did. Sport Women were the last to go and there was no age group break.

At the whistle I figured I would just sit back and see what the pace was like. All four girls were into the woods ahead of me and that was fine. I wanted to find my legs and set my pace carefully considering I was, after all, colder than a penguin in the North Pole. I quickly passed one girl and stayed on the wheel of the third. I was tempted to pass but figured I would just sit there until the time was really, really right - mistake number one. We hit the first climb with railroad ties in the course and she had to dismount, making me slow to a crawl but I managed to stay on the bike. This went on for the next few climbs finally forcing me off the bike, jacking my pace and HR out of kilter and ultimately throwing off my mojo.

At that point that girl slipped away and I knew i was gonna have to bust butt to catch up, then it happened. We hit a small decent with two ledges that made me want to pee my chamois. I dropped off the first ledge and saw it in my head, I was going down. I managed to gracefully cartwheel over my bars and land on my feet - mental note let the bike's front fork do it's job on lap two!!! At this point the last girl passed me and there was no way in hell I was going to settle for that. I caught and finally passed her, putting enough space between us that she wouldn't be a worry for the rest of the ride.

Once I got through the middle part of the course I hit the lake portion of the race. The roots were still wet and didn't do me any favors. I was wishing I had about 30 more pound on me to keep my wheels down since my form wasn't as great as it should have been. I slammed my right, already bruised calf into a stump. Now the bruise should last for two months instead of the one that it looked like it was headed for. But I knew that the Hill from Hell was within reach and I wanted to get to it. I made it up to the open field before the hill and sucked down a gel and the rest of my bottle. The hill really wasn't as bad as Tiger Rag, still not fun though.

I made it to the top and asked someone to hand me my bottle which one woman happily did - it kinda sucks to watch others watching you, thinking about how much pain you look to be in, thinking there is no way in hell they would do that, asking themselves why anyone puts there body through so much agony, knowing you still have one more lap to go. As I approached the dirt road crossing there was Liz!!! Oh Liz - her enthusiasm and bottle were a sight for sore eyes (my ass was sore too but that is a different story). I grabbed the bottle and stuck it in my mouth so that I could steer. That part of the trail was tight and I didn't want to hit Liz or a tree. My luck I dropped the bottle and didn't get the first drop out of it. But I headed out for lap two - dear God please let me make it.

Lap two was OK, I got passed by MANY male riders this time. All of whom were very nice (except one jerk off who rides for OutSpoken that I really don't like anyway), letting me know they were back and asking to come by - all giving kudo's as they passed. I think that helped me, they all sounded sincere - though perhaps they were just admiring the PINK :)

This time I spanked the decent which made me endo on lap one, luckily a male rider came just in front of me and I threw my ass off the back of the saddle and followed his line. The hills reeked havoc on me as I was just tired. But knowin the course helped. I made it through lap two virtually unscathed and approached the Hill. By this point I was cooked but then I saw it, a dude was walking his bike up the hill. I absolutely refused to get off (not that I would have gotten off regardless) and I kept it steady so that I could pass him. I pulled up next to him on the first level out as he hopped back on. He tried to ride with me and then fell in behind me, I guessed wanting a draft. But I guess it was just to much for him and I quickly pulled away. No one was in the feed zone this time - it was like a ghost town. All I wanted to do was finish.

I winded my way through the last bit of single track before the first road crossing. I could see that the Beg Women were about to start and I could hear Liz and Melissa shouting for me as I went to the finish. I got so excited that I got goose bumps (no Mel, I wasn't dehydrated completely ~ just excited to hear friendly voices).

I finished 4th, not sure my time, not sure how far off the lead ladies. I didn't really go into this one with any expectations, just wanted to see where I'm at physically and figure out what I need to work on. I haven't been riding alone enough and I haven't been red lining enough in my training. More intervals to come, more lonely but focused rides and more prep for Mitchell. At this point I don't even know if a time goal is worth setting for the Assault, I think I'm going to listen to Susan and just focus on finishing the ride. I'm going to be pushing my body really hard and if I try to set a time savy pace I'll just blow myself up.