Tuesday Night Worlds

It was another fun evening of pseudo-road racing this week. I spent much more time at the front of the pack this week (coach's orders) and enjoyed the competitiveness. I wasn't really comfortable being passed on both sides at the same time after an attack, but I'm getting used to it! Here's a link to the ride (and all of the pretty graphs) and to the photographer that is out there every week.

Tingey vs. Tingey on the Red Rock Loop

We decided to make the Saturday morning ride a bit more interesting with a race between husband and wife. We sent an email to all our our roadie friends inviting them to join in the festivities and watch our backs while we duked it out on the Red Rock Loop. Things were looking good for me at the top, I was 10 seconds in front of John but as he and I both suspected he caught me on the descent powered on the flats to finish with a time of 38:47, I rolled in at 39:24.  It made for a really fun ride with great friends!

Dave, Chad, Erica, Brad, John, Mike, Aaron, Mike, Todd

Tingey vs. Tingey


rolling up to the loop

Potosi Ride

Hup hup! I got to ride my road bike with some friends on Saturday. I met up with some Red Burros and headed out to climb Potosi, a favorite local climb.  I knew that the Strava segment started at Avery Street and was the same as the race Pedal to the Medal. So I hopped on the fastest wheel I could see, it just so happened to be the Mt. Charleston Hill Climb winner, Noe. It was a very fast pace climb. I  hung on with all that I had and with a few minutes left I let him and Sam pull away. I kept them in sight but didn't finish with them, I ended up with a time of 38:44!  John took these pictures of us; now that is talent, I was maxed out and could've never taken a photo at that point!




Erica  and Noe

Sam and Erica

Weekly crit at The Lakes (aka Tuesday Night Worlds)

Every Tuesday night from now until the time changes again, there will be an unofficial crit race at the Lakes. This has been going on for years, but last year was my first time trying it.
I was more nervous for tonight's crit than I've been all year! It's not my fitness, it's my bike handling skills in a large group of road riders that I doubted. I was content to stay near the back and off to the side for most of the hour. I knew I was working harder than I needed to, pulling most of the time, never really jumping in the draft. But since I was using this as training ride and I don't trust myself mid-pack I was happy to be there. I loved chasing after every corner and bridging any gaps that formed, better workout for me!
We did 17 laps in an hour (truncated Strava file; so I could see average speed {27.3} HR {158} & distance {28.7}).  With my warm up and cool down, I ended up with 20 laps & 34 miles.
As Sam Shultz's twitter handle states: "I ride bikes around in circles as fast as I can at various locales around the world; for a job, life is good".  I'm not claiming to be nearly as fast as he is, and I still have my first job as being a mother, but other than that; ditto!




Mount Charleston Hill Climb 2011

The Mount Charleston Hill Climb 2011 was a success! It was interesting and unexpectedly rewarding to be on the "other side" of a race. I thought I'd be frustrated that I wasn't racing, but I enjoyed all the logistics of getting everything  and everyone organized.
We had perfect weather and everyone involved was helpful and kind. I can't wait to do it again next year!
More photos, Race Results by Category, Overall Results

Where to pin your number
The babysitters!

Lined up and ready to race!

And they're off!

 Danny passed 22 people!

Matt also races mountain and cross bikes
At the top
Mike


Mens 50-59 Podium

Mount Charleston Hil Climb 2011

I'm helping promote and put on the Mount Charleston Hill Climb this year. I've been contacting sponsors to get product for the sign up bags and prizes for the winners. So far we've gotten some really great products! 
CarboRocket is providing samples to all of the riders and CR will be at the feed zones. Some of the winners will also get a bag of CR!
ESI grips sent coupons for all riders and new road bike grips for winners! 
Elete Electrolytes sent samples for all riders and bottles of Citrilyte for winners!
Action Wipes has sent refreshing wipes for your face and legs for post ride! If it's a hot day we'll have them packed on ice, nothing feels better than getting all the sweat off with a cool wipe!

If you have a product  or coupon that you'd like featured at this Hill Climb in Las Vegas please comment below.  

To register please visit: http://mtcharlestonhillclimb.athlete360.com/

See you out there!

Tuesday Night Worlds or Crit at The Lakes (Las Vegas)

I went back for more pain fun at the Tuesday night road crit. There was no cloud cover this time, so the temperature at the beginning of the crit was 102. Yes, you read that right, 102. I would take a drink (of Carborocket) and immediately my mouth was dry and I needed more.  However, on lap 3 my thirst suddenly was of no importance. There was a 4 person crash in the front of the peloton and body, bike, and water bottle dodging was the key. It looked like an explosion had occurred, stuff (and bodies) was everywhere. All 4 men were bloodied  and banged up. Needless to say the peloton stopped. One guy's head was bloody, there was one guy that possibly broke his elbow and they all had nice road rash and ripped kits. It made me rethink wether I'm going to keep going to these. No commitment either way today.
After a few minutes  a couple of us realized that we weren't needed anymore so we went a few blocks west and continued on our own crit. We did 10 laps up there. My garmin file shows the whole story with beautiful graphs.
Jason D. Miller photographs these events, but he may not put any up for this week's crit due to the crash.

Mt. Charleston

A group of Red Burro's rolled out of Summerlin at 5:00 AM. By the time we hit the bottom of Mt. Charleston there were about 10 people.  I dropped a bottle a few minutes into the climb so I had to turn around to grab it. As frustrating as it was to lose the lead group, I'm grateful it happened. I ended up pulling the whole day alone, didn't ever get to draft. Near the top of Kyle canyon there is a crossover to Lee Canyon. At the top of Lee Canyon is the one little ski resort we boast in Southern Nevada.  The elevation is close to 8,300 feet. The Bristlecone trailhead (and ski resort) was 53 miles from home and about 5,000 feet higher than I started. At the end of my ride I had climbed 7,500 feet in 73 miles. I was spent! John had already planned to get me around 10:30 regardless of where I was since I knew I wouldn't tolerate the heat very well and 5.5 hours was all I was prepared to ride. I made it half way down Kyle canyon when he picked me up with 32 oz. of cold recovery drink! Awesome way to finish that ride! 
Now, I just have to go that far, double that elevation in climbing, all on single track and I'll be ready for Point to Point. Mmmm, ouch. Good thing I have a few more weeks to get my endurance built up.






Song for today:

Tuesday night Crit at The Lakes (Las Vegas)

We migrated south for a few weeks. Of course I couldn't stand the thought of NOT racing my bike for a few weeks, so I decided to join the roadies of Las Vegas for their version of "Tuesday Night Worlds"! It's a one hour crit around a man made lake in the middle of Las Vegas. We ended up doing 15 laps. The first few I was really nervous riding with people so close, it's been a while since I've done a group road ride. It didn't help that on lap 3 a guy in the middle of the pack went down on a descent and I narrowly escaped getting tangled up in the mess. But by the last few laps I was ready to get up closer to the front and keep up with the chase. The average temperature was 95 degrees. Needless to say, I'm not used to the heat. My face was red for hours after the ride.  It was a great one hour effort, I'm excited to try again next week. Since it's a casual gathering (but not casual racing) there are no results or numbers or race officials. 



Bill & Erica, pre-crit

The 6:00 PM roll out

Katherine

The Australian National Mountain Bike Champion for XC and Short Track is in Park City! Katherine O'Shea is getting in some altitude training for World Cup and preparing for the Olympics. Australia only has 1 spot. Katherine & one other woman will be close, UCI points wise, to making the Olympic team, so she is doing all she can to perform her best at World Cup this year to get the spot. 
She raced at Deer Valley a few weeks ago, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her much. So the other day when I was on a ride I ran into her (photo #1) and we finished our ride together. We planned a road ride (on mountain bikes-she doesn't have her road bike here) and lunch for Friday. It was so fun talking to her and getting to know how a World Cup/Potential Olympian trains. She made an amazing (and super healthy) lunch and we chatted bikes and family while my toddler played with the dog. I'm so thrilled to have a new friend and inspiration!






Requisite Zebra photos

White Pine Touring Race Team

White Pine Touring Race Team had thier first group ride of the year! Everyone was planning to race the Mid-Week MTB race series, but it was cancelled due to mud at the last minute. That meant we all had time to ride and glycogen to burn and burn we did, all the way to Gaurdsman pass! It is approximately 2,500' of climbing in 9.5 miles. On the way back we did another short climb for a total of 2,800' of climbing in 20 miles. Everyone was super strong and fun to be with, I'm so excited to be on a team with all of these great folks. Tim had death metal/punk playing from small speakers in his rear pockets, I tried to stay near him so no one would hear how hard I was breathing!

Guardsman Pass with a cold spring wind whipping around us
Tom, Filip, Erica, Julian, Eric








White Pine Race Team