Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Watch CBS Videos Online

Wow. Every time I watch a little more of Palin, I throw up a little more in my mouth.

Racing In A Hurricane

This past weekend was a big UCI weekend up in Vermont. I like VT. A lot. Recently, we've been saying how we need to do a trip up to Burlington, have a pumpkin ale at Magic Hat and enjoy the town. However, we've been traveling quite a bit lately or if not traveling, entertaining house guests. We were really more psyched to stay close to home and chill. So it was with little regret I decided to race Bedford, a mere 6 miles from home instead of trekking up to VT. Apparently, everyone else headed north, though. Staying with my plan of racing the Pro/1/2/3 races whenever possible, I pre-registered and as of the morning of the race there were only three of us. (!!!) The 3/4 race had a nice group of NEBC women competing. I briefly considered doing both but there was just too much time in between races. I didn't want to kill the entire day.

And then there was the weather. Hurricane Kyle was offshore and dumping 6 inches of rain on the Boston area. Last year, I didn't get to race Bedford (was sipping little umbrella drinks on a beach on the Big Island) and I heard it was seriously dusty, hard surface and bumpy. While they changed up the course a bit, Kyle made it a mud fest, especially by the time my race rolled around at 1:30pm.

The course itself was pretty basic. The start/finish was on a paved straightaway up onto grass. A few twisty turns. Up a short hill by the pit and into a muddy meadow with a set of barriers. Then a short sprint up a paved sidewalk, a few turns in the trees with a couple of roots, back on grass with some slick 180 degree turns, through the parking lot and down a very muddy hill with a barrier and back up the hill. Not very technical at all but the mud made it more challenging. And the grass, my least favorite, was soggy and muddy - totally opposite from last week's flat, short, dry grass at Sucker Brook.

Since riding with the "big girls" is still somewhat novel for me, my goals for the race remain quite modest: 1) Don't get lapped 2) Try not to come in last. Given there were only 5 of us on the start line, I feared this could be the embarrassment of the season but then reminded myself, I'm riding this division to get a longer race in, results don't matter, and hell, it's fun to ride in the mud and rain. Really fun.

The course had become pretty soupy by the time my race rolled around. There were a couple of sections of peanut butter mud and most of the grass had turned to energy sucking muck. While I totally enjoy the challenges brought on negotiating twisty slippery, muddy turns in such conditions, I hate the long straight stretches of plowing through muck. At the line, the official asked us if we minded racing for 40min instead of 45 since they were running slightly behind schedule plus UCI and Nationals are always 40 min. We all agreed. Very low key start with only 5 of us. Since there was ample opportunity to pass and no crowds, there was no true sprint for the hole shot. I was second off the pavement onto the dirt and in fact about 15 sec after the whistle, I looked behind me to see what happened to the other three riders. Weirdest start to a cx race I've ever experienced.

The woman who took the hole shot (and eventual winner) never looked back. She powered through all the slop and mud and accelerated away from me like I was standing still (which it actually felt like I was doing sometimes.) I fell into 4th place by the time we hit the first set of barriers on the first lap and at that point decided I better turn it up a notch if I wanted to stay out of last place. Thanks to Julie's shouted tip ("Find a rhythm!") I reminded myself to walk that fine line between blowing up while keeping the gas pedal floored. That's really been a big one for me this season. I've been redlining way to early in races, especially last year. So the focus in my head became: find the rhythm, float the mud, find the best line. All of that really helped. I ended up running the hill on the backside of the course all 5 laps since it seemed faster and less energy sucking than riding. On the slight incline by the pit, I was forced off my bike for four laps for the same reason. Last lap, I was so fed up with it and felt so lame (since it was barely a hill) that I vowed I wouldn't get off and did make it (much to the happiness and cheering of the folks in the pit!). One small victory. On that last lap, as I was running up that last hill following the final barrier, I saw the leader coming into the that section. That spurred me on to make sure I wasn't lapped (mission completed). And I did manage to hold my 4th place position. Which surprisingly, was good for a podium spot and a nice envelope of cash! Big thanks to Julie, Kathy, Geoff, David and Serene for all the encouragement out there. Helped a lot. And thanks to OxiClean for getting all the mud out of my skinsuit. ;-)

I'm In The Wrong Line of Work

I hate Vegas. I really do. And hate is a strong word. In fact, I'd be happy if it fell off the face of the earth. Every year, I'd pray that I wouldn't have to go to NAB for work while my co-workers would jockey for position to make sure they got to attend. Even when I lived in Seattle and couldn't take the dreary, grey skies, going to NAB and seeing some sunlight just didn't do it for me.

However, I've always wanted to go to Interbike. A trade show for bikes. How cool. It's clear I'm a total bike geek as one of the blogs I follow wrote about. And now there's CrossVegas. I'm finding I actually want to plan a trip to Vegas for next year's event (unfortunately, somehow I need to scam an industry pass to get in.) I'm obviously in the wrong line of work - I'd rather look at the latest bamboo frame than the latest codec or plasma screen. And I'm willing to pay my own way to Vegas to do it.



CrossVegas Cyclo-Cross 2008 from sam smith on Vimeo.

Cupcakes and Cross and Rookie Mistakes

Last weekend was one of my favorite 'cross races. Not because of the course (although I actually liked it more this year since the grass was shorter and drier) but because of the cupcakes. I haven't a clue how cupcakes have become linked to 'cross in New England but I'm all for it. I'm almost ready to put a "Fueled By Babycakes" sticker on the Tsunami. I'm sure it's detrimental to my racing but hey, didn't I say the UberGoal for this season was "Enjoy"? So it's all good.

My mom and dad were in town for the weekend for a post-anniversary celebration. That made it impossible for me to get to the Women's 3/4 race at 9am. It meant swapping the little girl panties for the big girl thong and racing with big girls. Oy. For the three or four days before the race, I alternated between bouts of dreading rolling up to the line with those fast chicks to a calm zen of "It's ok. Get a good longer work out. You only get better by riding with those better/faster than you."

I got there early to pre-ride the course. It was a mix of open fields, double-track fire roads, a challenging sand feature, some off-camber grass and a slight grade paved section at Start/Finish. There was one set of traditional barriers after two short power uphills and a short stair run-up. There was a new lollipop section in the woods to bypass some of the normal roots, and many of the rocks in that section were also removed (or painted bright orange ;)). Lots of high-speed grass and power sections, and very little elevation change made the course very fast. Not something I'm strong at and a complete change from thre previous race at Amesbury.

Given that I've been mostly racing the B race, I had one simple goal for Sucker Brook - don't get lapped. I brought two sets of wheels with me - one with Michelin Muds on them and the other Michelin Jets. Given that the course was super dry and the grass pretty short and fast, I opted to go with the Jets. I'm still debating the wisdom of that decision but on the pre-rides, they felt great.

Rolled up to the line - 13 starters which the official told me was unlucky. Actually, 13 is my lucky number so I was happy about it. I started in the second row hoping to stay as close to the pack as possible during the race. As we hit the first turn off the pavement onto the gravel I was actually about 4th or 5th from last and pretty pleased with my position. As we got off the gravel and passed the pit, my bike started feeling weird, I looked down and the back tire had flatted. :( At this point, I started kicking myself for not putting my extra set of wheels in the pit (Mistake #1: if you have spare equipment at the race, at least put it in the pit) and while I was berating myself for neglecting to do that, I slowly walked back to the start to tell the official I was a DNF. He reminded me that there was neutral support in the pit (DUH! Mistake #2: keep head in the game, be informed not only of the course but also amneties offered by the race venue) and said I could still stay in the race if I wanted. I figured I could use the workout so threw the bike on my shoulder and started sprinting for pit. The pit crew incredulously looked at me and yelled, "Did you flat at the start?!?!?!" I told them what happened as they swapped out my wheel and the leaders started coming through (so much for my goal of not getting lapped). Soon, the entire field passed as he futzed with the bike trying to get the brake cable back on (my brakes are swapped so he was actually loosening the cable for the front wheel instead of the back) as I didn't pay attention and was cheering for the NEBC girls going passed the pit. (Mistake #3: pay attention in the pit or do it yourself). We finally got the bike ready, I jumped on and sprinted to catch the last woman. I caught her on the grass and was going to sit behind her for a while but she was so tentative on the corners that I decided to pass her. She passed me back a little while later but as we hit the woods, I passed her again (it was pretty clear she was tentative not only on corners but even more so on dirt and sand). With that observation, I accelerated each time through the sand pit, the woods and each turn in order to put more distance between us. My goal became to make sure I finished "ahead" of her (I couldn't really beat her since I was a lap down). Anyway, it gave me something to focus on in a race that was pretty much over in the first 60 sec for me and I loved it. She never did pass me again. Unfortunately, I never was able to catch anyone else, though. And, how cool was it to hear Dick Ring mention me every time I rode through the start/finish. I wish I could have heard his commentary. "Here comes Teri Carilli of Lexington, MA. Well, folks, we don't know why she's so far behind....but we do know she's no Patty French from Chelmsford! And where is Patty French anyway? Isn't she one of Carilli's riding partners? What's up with that?" :)

Regardless, I did feel strong for a 45 min race and despite being DFL felt like I actually accomplished something. The whole race was definitely an exercise in how to come in DFL, ride like a rookie and still build up a bit of confidence. I think I'll continue riding with the big girls for all races except the UCI ones.

Best of all, two of my teammates were on the podium. Cris took 2nd, Libby 3rd. Totally awesome job.


Oh, yeah. I did eat one of the Big Ass cupcakes. And yeah, I did feel kind of sick afterwards. Talk about a sugar high.

Obsession Update....

Thanks to mkr, I think I may have decided on a frame for my current obsession, the Hooligan by Soul Cycles. It has an eccentric bottom bracket which means a bit more weight but the vertical rear dropouts means it can run normal QR rear axle hubs. And, by going with disc brakes, I'll be able to swap wheels between 26 mtb wheels for the woods and 700c wheels for commuting. Hold on....I need to wipe the drool off my keyboard.....

And so it begins, the obsession over all the little parts that go on it. I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of all the bits and pieces and keep wondering just how much I can agonize over each component. So far, the only decisions I've made are to go with the Avid BB7 mechanical disc brakes and my favorite bar, the Easton Monkeylite Carbon XC bars. I need to figure out the fork soon since that's likely to cost more than the frame....that's just wrong! And I have absolutely no clue about ss gearing...more research, more questions for mkr and anyone who will listen.

And speaking of cost, given all the economic madness going on, I actually do have second thoughts about spending $$$ on a bike I don't truly NEED. And I am trying to keep it relatively inexpensive. And while I was feeling guilty even contemplating a new bike, I came across a post on this site. I don't feel so bad now.

And Mike, thanks for feeding my obsession....and I'll be hitting you up for more advice!

First 'Cross Race of the Season

Amesbury is my kind of cx course - rooty, twisty, lots of woods, not so much grass and two fun power hills. I was totally stoked for the first cx race of the season but at the same time a little freaked out since I hadn't raced in, oh, what? A month? Since Nationals? So I spent most of the drive to Amesbury trying to bury that, "What are you thinking?!?!?!" feeling and telling myself, you have nothing to lose, go out, have fun. As I thought more about that on the hour drive, I realized that last year's season wasn't really fun - every race felt too hard, too fast and I was too tired. Not sure what was going on then but I do know that after a successful season of MTB racing, I put a lot of pressure on myself to do really well in 'cross. And somehow, that just took the fun out of it. And so, the UberGoal for this season is simply, "Enjoy".

And of course, there were some modest goals for Amesbury: 1) stay upright, 2) don’t go out too fast and burn everything in the first lap, 3) ride the crazy little power hill parts 4) get back in the ‘cross groove

As I was pre-riding the rain-slicked course, I approached the first power hill and bailed. I heard the MRC boys yelling at me, "Teri! You can ride it! Do it again!!!!" And as they stood on the other side of the fence on top of the hill, they pointed out the best lines. I love those guys. Thanks to them I rode those power hills almost every lap and the one time I needed to run was because someone fell in front of me. During the rest of the pre-ride, I started feeling a bit more confident. The twisties, roots, and dirt totally suit me. I hate the long power grass sections you see on most cx courses.

In order to achieve goal #2, I decided to start a little back in the pack (field of about 25?) so I wouldn’t feel so compelled to go nuts for the hole shot, sprint on the grass section etc. Last year, I did get the hole shot (my first ever!) and led for 3/4 of a lap but had such an adrenline rush from seeing all these women chase me that I burned all my matches by the end of lap one and faded fast. At the whistle, I headed down the dirt road 2/3’s of the way back in the back and slowly picked off people. By the time we hit the stairs, I was about 12th place and then picked off a few more folks in the twisty, rooty, wooded section. By the barriers, I was in 9th place and pretty much stayed that way for the remainder of the race. Midway through the race, the skies opened up. Yeah! More mud + CX = more fun! I seemed to be trading spots with a rider from ECV. As we headed down the grassy section, I decided I’d just sit on her wheel for a while but as we rounded one muddy turn, she went down and I narrowly avoided riding over her. Much to her credit, a lap later she caught and passed me. I tried to hang with her but just couldn’t and concentrated on not losing ground to anyone else for the remainder of the race.

All in all, I felt strong throughout the race (it even seemed short to me! I think I'm growing too accustomed to 2hr mtb races). I stayed on my bike the entire race. My handling skills have certainly improved. Very satisfying watching other riders pick tentatively around stuff, hop off, biff it etc and ride right by them. Oooooo...mean streak showing.... :)

After the race, I enjoyed one of the Car Bomb cupcakes (chocolate cake with some stout in it, white frosting with a shot of Baileys). Good stuff.

A LIttle Love For The Tsunami

Trish gave me this headset cap as a birthday gift the other day. So now the Tsunami has yet another little customized touch. And I figure it'll give me a little inspiration (or at least a little smile) when I'm slogging through some peanut butter mud, no gas left in the tank, ready to puke and wondering why the hell I do this sport.

Racing Sans Bike

A few weeks ago, I decided to pass up one of my favorite MTB races and do a trail run instead due to some work travel. It was difficult decision since I really enjoyed the Landmine race last year. Plus, it's actually one of the few MTB races that's relatively close to home. Regardless, there was no way I was going to make it work and so opted for the Run Like A Girl trail run in Great Brook Farm. And part of me was secretly excited - it would be my first running race in two years. And it was on dirt.

The night before the race I listened to the remnants of Hurrican Hanna pound on the roof. I thought this could make for an epic race with huge mud puddles. The forecast called for continued showers in the morning. Unlike riding, I actually enjoy running in the rain so now I was doubly thrilled. The drawback was this meant it could be somewhat slippery and treacherous for S. I really didn't want to see her re-injure her ankle or knee, especially since the race had been my idea.

Woke up Sunday morning to no rain and sunny skies. Nice! We packed up the Fat A$$ with a cooler of post-race tailgating beverages and headed over to Great Brook Farm. You know you've been racing on bikes more than on foot when you think, "Which side do they want us to pin the number on?" Quickly recovered from that brain freeze, pinned the number on in good runner fashion and waited for the race to start.

I didn't have any expectations for the race. Only goal was to finish and hopefully not get tripped up by a rock or root and face plant. Lining up for the start, I had little idea what pace I would be running and so wasn't clear how far up front I should seed myself. I opted for about 1/3 of the way back in the field and hoped I could pass a bunch of people and get out of the crowd quickly.

The first mile was on a double-track trail. I had some difficulty getting into a steady pace due to the field funneling down from the wide start to the narrower trail. Fortunately, the rain had left some big puddles (but for the most part the trails were fairly dry) and for some odd reason, the other women chose to run AROUND the puddles. This caused some crowding along the edges of the trail but left the middle wide open. So I felt like Moses parting the great sea of runners, ran directly up the middle of the trail, through the puddles and incredibly, got angry shouts from other runners who were splashed as a result. IT'S A TRAIL RACE, PEOPLE!

By the end of the first mile and thanks to the puddles, I finally was able to settle into a pace. The second mile was in the wide open fields with the super warm sun beating down. Throw in the muggy air and I was praying we'd head back into the shade of the woods soon. There were some small rolling hills through here and I used those as opportunities to pick off a few more runners. Once in the woods, I picked up the pace a little more as I started to cool off. By now I was looking for the water stop as we were told it was at mile 3. Looking at my watch, I'm thinking I'm running SUPER slow. Geez...have I lost that much running fitness?!?!?! What a sucky time!! By now, I'm on a very narrow single track trail, getting anxious that I'm running so slowly and now doubly annoyed since it's difficult to pass folks. Finally, we hit the water stop. Grab two glasses - one to pour on my head, one to drink. I start thinking to myself that we can't be far from the finish but that doesn't make sense - we still have two miles to go. But my memory of moutain biking on these trails doesn't jive with that. Weird. But sure enough, around the pound, down a hill and splash through one big puddle and there's the finish line. Guess they lied about how far in the water stop was.

All in all, felt great to be in a running race again. My time was decent (10th in my age group) considering I haven't been training at all and my legs felt great the next day. S also had a great race with a much faster time than expected despite hobbling on a semi-fused ankle. And one perk running races have over cycling, cool schwag. We all got technical fabric tshirts, regular tshirts, lots of great post race food and S even snagged us a couple of technical running caps. :)

Later, we made our own fun in the parking and had a great time relaxing with some post-race pumpkin ales AND enjoyed a belated birthday celebration - more cupcakes!

I Hate Election Season

Every time the political season heats up, I ended up in vehement discussions with my parents that cause me to either: 1) chug directly from the wine bottle at the dinner table 2) hang up the phone and run through the house screaming like my hair's on fire or 3)bang my head on the keyboard after I read some crazy email they've forwarded me even though I knew better from reading the subject line.

Last night, they tied me to the couch in the family room, propped open my eyelids with toothpicks, put the TV volume on 100 and forced me to watch Fox News, O'Reilly and then Hannity and Colmes. OMG. I'm still speechless about it. Wow.

So, I'm returning the favor with a video from a very cool internet tv site who I got lucky enough to visit this past week in NYC for a project I'm working on.

Last Visit To The Stadium

My dad is my favorite person to go to baseball games with. He'll stay all nine innings. He likes hot dogs as much as I do. He doesn't hog all the peanuts. But my absolute favorite thing that always cracks me up is when he yells in his Bronx accent, "Awww...come on! You bum!" when someone strikes out on a lousy pitch, flubs a grounder, drops a toss, etc. Saturday's game provided ample opportunity to hear him yell that again. Yanks blew a 6-2 lead. As Toronto was scoring catch up runs, my dad states, "You know, we could easily lose this game." Do NOT even say that. I did NOT come down to the Bronx for a last visit to the stadium to see them lose.

Bottom of the 9th, down by 1. Two on (first and second). No outs. A-Rod gets up. All we need is a long fly ball to the outfield to tie the game. The bum hits a shot to third, cleanly fielded by the 3rd baseman who steps on the bag then guns it over to first. Double play. Again. I think my Dad is so beaten down by A-Rod's lack of clutch hitting since he's been a Yankee that he didn't even have the energy to heckle him. I really wish the Yanks would trade the dude.

Despite the loss, I did enjoy the game. The weather was perfect, the seats were great and it was exceptionally nice watching the Yankees on their home field. I've probably attended more Yankee games at Fenway than Yankee stadium. Sad, but true. Years ago, while wearing my NY cap in Fenway, I could expect some pleasant heckling of my own. But over the past few years, ever since the chant "Yankees suck!" became popular, it's been downright unpleasant and perhaps a bit dangerous to be an obvious Yankee fan in Fenway. So I refuse to set foot in Boston's home park these days. Which is a shame. This last game made me realize how much I've missed spending a summer afternoon or warm evening at the ball park. Or how much I love watching a game with my Dad. And I can even buy the beers now!

How Cool Is This?!?!

Yet another reason I love 'cross. What other bike racing discipline (can I really call it that?) has racing under the lights AND a limited edition bike with GLOW-IN-THE-DARK paint to go with it? And, we're not talking just any bike, but a Seven. Talk about bike porn! Damn. Now I really want to go race in Seattle at the end of the month. You can order yours by Friday. I'm in total bike lust.