Tomorrow I start my trek to Australia for the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. With a 4:30am wakeup, a wonderful TJ to drive me to the airport, a bike box that weighs 1.5 pounds over that 50lb allowance, no suitcase but a carry-on, and 2 textbooks tucked inside, I’m ready!

It’s been a whirlwind of a week. My last blog post feels like eons ago. Each year I love the transition from summer to fall as much as I enjoy transitioning from finals week to full-time bike racer. It brings some much needed structure to my life and Tucson during the Monsoons is one of the most beautiful places anywhere. It’s also at this time when I get to juggle starting five classes and preparing for the most important race of my season.

I’ll post a few pictures of the new place. It’s 550 square feet in one of Tucson finest neighborhoods. We only had a couple feet of counter space so TJ and I decided to build a kitchen cart to squeeze between the fridge and the hallway. Well, we discovered such a small construction project is harder than it sounds. It’s been fun battling the mosquitoes and heat out in the courtyard!

If you want the Subaru, make me an offer! Only 200,000+ miles, 2 hubcaps, and body damage all around!

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

Four race weekends down, and I seem to improve a bit after each one. Yesterday I finished 9th in the cross-country and finished up the weekend with an 8th in short track. Colt from CyclingDirt.org has put together a good race recap. I’m pleased that I’m riding well enough to make it into the race footage! All-in-all a solid race with no mishaps or crashes. I faded a bit in the last two laps and watched as Amanda Sin caught, and then handily dropped me on the last lap. I’m starting to feel at home riding over roots and through mud puddles but I still prefer dust to mud.

So what’s next? Another race weekend in Windham, NY. In the meantime, I’ll spend the next week in Vermont with Catharine and Zeph and then drive to New York on Thursday. Sorry I still don’t have much in the way of pictures as my camera has been zipped up in my backpack for most the trip. Here’s a picture of ‘the office’ where I update my blog (maybe even this single occasion). I caught Catharine just the moment before she smiled for the picture.

So what do I do between race weekends? I’ve been training Wednesdays and Thursdays, reading before breakfast, eating pancakes, doing recovery rides, restocking the refrigerator, reading, cooking, hunting for wifi, using up my phone minutes talking to TJ, watching movies, and working on getting the UA Cycling Club in business this Fall Semester. I just finished up these couple books and am only updating my blog in the brief lull before the next round of reading:

- The Cycling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities
-The Omnivore’s Dilema: A Natural History of Four Meals

Both books are worth a thorough read, and even the book review by David Byrne.

Take care!

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

I raced pretty well for 3 laps today (of 5). Well enough to have me finish in 25th place, and 5th for U23 women. Unfortunately, I learned that only the top-3 women are called up for the U23 podium.

That’s it for now. Maybe I’ll do an actual race report later. I just realized I need to scrub the dirt out of my jerseys and get them in the next load of wash. I’ve already decorated a couple of our fancy white jerseys with mud spots on this trip. Just another reason I like Tucson…

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

Catharine took home her second World Cup victory yesterday. Katerina finished 3rd, and Georgia in 7th. What a great day for LUNA!

My race: 38th place. Not the result I’d hoped for but not entirely bad considering it’s been a couple years since I’ve had to contend with mud and roots. The world cup course required constant focus to keep riding instead of running. I actually did quite a bit of both and am now paying for all the running/bike pushing with a sore back, arms, butt, and calves.

I was called up in the fourth row, and found my preferred start position next to the fence on the outside of the first corner. I took the first corner wide and found myself in a good position up the start climb–which was short. As we entered the singletrack descent, a couple riders slipped by me (which was only the beginning, I should have known). I heard Waldek yell at me that I was 23rd. Then I got passed by about 20 people over the next two laps. Which sucked. I pretty much forgot how to ride my bike.

Then I passed a few riders on the last two laps. The plan for next weekend: I need to calm down for the start and not panic when I made mistakes.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

Pretty good for a short track race over 9,000ft. I finished with a solid 8th place finish. I’ll just post another post-race interview from Cycling Dirt. And why do I have such a stupid look on my face?

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

The jersey is the Stripe Jersey from the new LUNA Sport clothing line. I guess you can’t see much of it in the video but there’s more here. Apparently I was supposed to mention something about organic material and that they’re handmade in the USA. Some shops in Boulder are now carrying the clothing, including Full Cycle, where I spent some of 2006 fixing bikes.

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

Here’s a little race coverage from Cyclingdirt.org. Enjoy!

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

Nope, no jersey this time around. Amy Dombroski and I were no more than 10 seconds apart the entire race and raced down the last descent neck and neck. It came to a sprint for the line, although Amy came into the last corner in a better position. I’d call Amy a road racer but it’s hard to swallow the fact that I got beat by a road racer on the downhill of a mountain bike race. She’s just a good bike racer, and it doesn’t matter what kind of bike.

Seven women started the U23 race, which is still pretty small but the category is getting more competitive each year. The race course starts at 9,000 feet and goes up at a 20% grade for a little while. It’s the kind of climb that pretty much destroys you each time up. Eventually it levels, at bit, switchbacks through some trees, goes up some more, hits a fire road before a dusty singletrack descent to the bottom. It was the kind of bumpy that had my calves on the verge of cramping and left me with some sore triceps. Fun stuff really.

I didn’t race with the pro women today, which was a relief because everyone looked miserable on the start climb. Instead, I watched TJ ride to a second place finish in the men’s single speed race. I can’t imagine not having gears on that course. Well, I’m planning on a good short track tomorrow, so I better get some sleep. For the best race coverage, check out CyclingDirt.org.

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com

The Tokyo Joe’s Junior Development Team is hosting a fundraiser this next Monday, July 13th to help their racers go to the World Championships in Canberra, Australia. The event is from 4:30pm until closing at the Tokyo Joe’s location in Boulder, CO. The restaurant will donate 50% of gross sales to the team. So bring your friends and eat up!

I raced for the Tokyo Joe’s Team as a junior in ‘05 and my first year racing Pro in ‘06. I received some wonderful support from the team and my teammates. Now, one of my favorite cyclists and long time mentor, Ann Trombly, is coaching and directing their Junior Program.

Here’s a picture from my first race in the pro ranks. It was the Sea Otter Classic in 2006. Do you remember the mud from that year? I think for every hour I spent racing, was another 3 hours of bike maintenance. It took me over 2 hours to finish a single lap of the course, and that was it for me that year!

If you’re in Boulder, consider a night out on Monday and support junior cycling!

Go to the Source – choleforsman.missingsaddle.com