One year anniversary of beetle burn :(

This is what was left of the poor beetle after the fire

Today is the one year anniversary of my horrible car accident. It happened out west in the Nevada dessert on my way home from the UBI bike school. I basically lived in my car for 5 weeks so everything was in it. Two racing bikes, laptop, cameras, clothes, etc. and of course the new bike frame I had just brazed. While eating a piece of toffee from the Rocky Mountain Candy Company my passenger side wheel drifted a bit on the narrow two lane highway. I panicked and over corrected the car causing me to lose control. The car started to spin, crossed the center line and I thought this was how it would all end. I went down a 20 foot gully --all the while sand flying up at the windshield and not being able to see a thing. It was the dessert so there was nothing to hit. I spun around about 180 degrees and came to a stop. Shaking I called Greg and started bawling my eyes out. I was 90 miles from any town--in the middle of the dessert--alone--with a car I couldn't drive out of the sand--and hardly able to believe I had lived to tell about it. He told me to call 911 and while I was on the phone with them (and still in the driver's seat) I heard a loud "whooosh" which ended up being the ignition of a flame from under the car! All at once I saw the front hood and passenger side of the car go up in a huge flame! I ran from the car not even thinking of grabbing my purse (ID, money, etc.) which was 2 inches from my hand. All I had were the clothes on my back and luckily my phone (which amazingly had reception--thank you Sprint) as I ran away from the burning car as fast as I could. I sat on the side of the highway and cried as my car and it's contents burned to the ground before my eyes. At that moment I was totally alone. No one came by and all I could see for miles was the dessert. I had no ID, no money and no way out.........

More on the rescue later. I thought I could talk about it now--thought I would want to--but I don't and I can't...... Ms. Beetle R.I.P.  If you want to see more horrific photos click here: beetle burn photos

Hard to believe there was a steering wheel and dashboard here

Maybe I should just become a time trialist?

Green Dragon, green bike, green MO before Whitewater RR

Well, I have been a bit slack in blogging since I have discovered Facebook but this should be no excuse for not updating this with the most recent exciting events! Of course there is nothing exciting to report but I did get back to racing a bit since my accident. Well--sort of. I don't know if you can call it racing but yes, I am back on my bike! Hooray!

I had been finally doing a bit of regular riding for a couple weeks--after a good 8 weeks off--when I found a local RR I decided to try. It was July 4th so I figured there wouldn't be many people there and I would be able to test my group riding skills and gain a little confidence back. I was really nervous but when I got there only 8 girls showed up at the starting line. Still, it was a talented group of women but at least the pack wasn't going to be too big for me. Then again there would be less room to hide from the wind. Also it was a 50 mile race so I knew it might be a bit taxing. Taxing it was but not all because of the distance. The race started with an ascent up a mile (long upgrade) hill and once the gun went off after turning the second corner this was the first thing we saw. Part way up--about a mile into the race--I lost my chain--over the big ring onto the outside! I couldn't pedal it back on so had to stop and by then the pack was gone. I was hoping for a courtesy wait by the girls but no such luck--they were gone. One stupid mile in!!!!! I was so mad and so disappointed because I had just wanted to test myself and see how long I could stick with the other girls. It was not to be. I TT'd for 49 miles alone with the pack dangling in front of me for the first 10 miles. Then they were out of sight and yet I kept on. Once lapped by the men I was given one less lap to go but towards the end saw a pace car behind me. It was the last lap so I thought they must have started the next race. Unfortunately it was the women coming to lap me. What???!! They had gotten lapped by the men too so why didn't they finish on the previous lap. I had to ask Craig and Rich what was going on when I got to the line and Craig said I could do another lap if I wanted but said it was at their discretion that they gave me one less. WTF? I just didn't get it and didn't want pity so opted to finish the whole 50 miles. That was the worst part. One more lap after thinking I was done but my head needed to do the whole thing. So anyway, I was DFL and not DNF so was happy about that but really upset that I had to ride that entire race alone. Oh well, there will be more races.

Kristin and I before the Superweek Shorewood Crit

On July 16th I decided to try my first crit. I wasn't sure if doing a Superweek pro race was the best idea but I had to get the fear and jitters out of me and the best way to do that is to get back on the proverbial horse--in this case my bike! Kristin and I drove down to Shorewood, WI and registered for the race. Because we were the first race of the afternoon they were still setting up the course so we got to actually warm up on the course beforehand which was nice. I bought some Lacrosse rib padding for kids and made a little makeshift hip padding out of it. I know I looked like a total nerd but I wanted to at least feel safe in case of any potential crash. It was a left turn course which was good but still, I padded both hips to be safe! :)

Me being a nerd with my hip pads! :)

I'm taking a mindfulness class for athletes so was able to practice some of the techniques I had learned in class the night before to keep myself relaxed. At the line there were about 40 women and I wasn't really nervous. Once we were off I felt ok even though one stretch was really bumpy and a couple of the corners were a bit tight. I know my cornering was a little tentative at first so even when riding in the middle of the pack a gap would open to the rider ahead of me and I had to waste energy getting back on the wheel. Eventually I found myself at the back and when Kristin attacked for a $200 prime mid way into the race I fell off the back. I ended up riding the rest of the race alone and they did not pull me so I got a finish place. Once again DFL but my head was happy I finished it. It was good practice in an elite group of riders from all over the world. I just wish my fitness would come back faster. I'm getting impatient. Kristin had a great race taking home $250 worth of primes and as always made the race exciting! :) It was fun to be back in the race atmosphere as a racer and not just a spectator but I will be happier when my legs can go a little faster. :) Or maybe with all this riding alone I am doing I should consider taking up time trialing!!!?  :)

Kristin showing off her prime winnings! Yay!

The weather has been horribly cold for July here and I haven't felt like riding since the race. I am not quite ready for fall yet but am going to grab a blanket and watch the Tour tonight! Now the real race begins! :)  Thanks for reading.

A picture is worth a 1000 words...

I headed over to Grafton today to once again cheer the girls on in their 3rd day of the Tour of America's Dairyland. It's so hard not racing but it keeps me motivated to watch my team doing such an awesome job! Today Team Kenda brought seven girls to the line; Kristin, Christy, Catherine, Jackie, Krystal, Ashley and Theresa. It was awesome. Once again I was given the job of photographing and being on the radio. We did an amazing job as a team, won many primes and got Kristin her coveted podium spot! I am exhausted and not feeling like writing much so the short captions will follow the photos that should really speak for themselves! Great job everyone and thanks for motivating me to get back on my bike! :)

Starting off with the "Mature Women of Team Kenda" this is for the over 40 crowd! :) When you have Catherine Walberg on your team you can never use age as an excuse for a bad race. As Samantha on "Sex and the City" would say--"We are over 40 and FABULOUS!"  :) L-R; Theresa, Catherine, me.

Here is the team ready for action pre-race!  L-R; Kristin, Christy, Ashley, Me (with radio), Jackie, Krystal and Theresa.

Here we have young rising stars Ashley and Jackie on the line and also Theresa smiling big before they tear it up at the Giro de Grafton!

At the beginning of this race Kristin stood in 5th place in the GC. Here she is graciously accepting her line call before the race.

Early in the race Kenda takes charge. Here are Kristin, Christie and Ashley coming around turn #2.

Thanks to all the great work by Team Kenda Kristin was able to stay comfortable in the pack and conserve her energy for the sprint.

Luckily today there was redemption and the podium ceremony was not missed! Here is Kristin on the second rung of the podium with Theresa Cliff-Ryan from Verducci on top (just edging Kristin out for the sprint), and Samantha Schneider in 3rd riding for Team Type 1.

Kristin climbed to 3rd in the GC today after her stellar performance. Notice though, how she has one foot on the top step? Hopefully this is a little foreshadowing of things to come. :) 2nd is a Verducci rider and currently on top is Devon Haskell of Team BH USA.

All bikers get a nice tan but this one is especially nice. These are Jackie's legs showing off her very crisp tan lines! Jackie likes to make sure her shorts are in the same spot each time she races! :)

Krystal enjoys the cola flavored Power Gel chunks AFTER the race! As if the adrenaline during the race was not enough! :)

Christie made a new friend--Ivan the British Mastiff! OMG! This dog was BIG!  He just sort of put his paw right in Christie's lap!

Somehow we ended up getting our photo taken with this Mascot. His name is Senor Luna but none of us apparently speak spanish so at first everyone thought he was a blue banana! haha LOL! But then we figured out he was a Blue Moon! One of those "Aha" moments. :) L-R; Christie, Kristin, Senor Luna, Jackie, Krystal, me.

Thanks for reading! I won't be going to the next few races as I plan to celebrate Father's Day with my daddy tomorrow and do a little bit of work :( next week. I need to try to get in a nice bike ride tomorrow also! Good luck to my awesome team in the upcoming races! You rock! :)

A fun day in WATERLOO!

Future Racer!  :)

Today I went with Kristin, Krystal and Jackie to the Waterloo Circuit Race which is part of the Tour of America's Dairyland and 10 great days of racing here on my home turf! I was really wishing I was racing but my leg--and my lungs--are not quite ready yet. I am toying with the idea of racing sometime next week but we'll see how things go training wise this week. Anyway, while not racing is difficult, today I was nominated both team photographer and team director so it took my mind off not having on my kit and being part of the group in the typical "team mate" way. It was a busy job and I got to speak into the radio and give the girls some information as they raced. It was hard to take photos and talk at the same time as I was really trying to concentrate on the race and giving the girls the best advice I could. It also made me feel a bit more part of the team than just hanging out and watching.

The race got off to a good start and Krystal covered the first break by Verducci. Awesome job! Then on about the second break of the race Kristin was in the mix and this break kept increasing their lead throughout the race to stick until the end. With a Verducci rider, an IS Corp, a Lipsmacker and Kristin from Kenda represented, BH USA was the only team which would try to chase it down but wasn't able to do it thanks to some good control on the front by Krystal and Jackie and a couple of other teams in the break.

Kristin drives the break

In the end Kristin sprinted following the Verducci rider for 2nd and a podium spot and Jackie finished 11th in the money. Krystal cranked up the pace on the last lap leading the group to a nice strung out finish. Great job to all of my awesome team mates.

Kristin, Jackie, Krystal

It was so much fun hanging out with the girls today! I can't remember laughing so hard in a long time! It all started out with the remainder of my leg scab falling off in the car on the way to the race! GROSS! I had to throw it out the window and we were all in hysterics about it! Sorry for grossing everyone out!

Highlights (and lowlights) of the day:

***Jackie knowing the lyrics to every song on Kristin's IPHONE. It was quite entertaining! 

***Kristin missing her podium ceremony! Crap! A little faster on the post race routine next time! :(

***Watching the race and our team doing so well! The girls were really awesome to watch and did a great job with only 3 of them! 

***Christy missing the race due to a traffic jam in Chicago. :(

***Krystal's post race meal. Yummy!

Mmmm, makes me want to go raw!

See you at Grafton tomorrow! It will be another exciting day of racing!  :)

I'm still a vegetarian...really :)

Anyone craving a hot dog?  I bet this is enough to make you quit!? OMG! So funny I had to post it! I laugh every time I look at it! :)

Dehisced! :(

So here is another gross photo of my incision! I went for the close up shot for the full effect :) So frustrating after 6 weeks to still have an open wound on my leg though this photo is lots better than it was a couple weeks ago. It opened up the day after my staples came out a whole month ago but I had no idea I only had a 24 hour window in which to have it sewn back up. Duh. So much for the Drs telling me what to look out for. Being that I am not the type to run to the Dr. for every little thing I waited, and waited and waited some more thinking it would close up. I think the steri-strips might have worked had they not left the lovely blisters all over my leg. In any event I finally went back to the Dr. after that first ride last weekend and he said my incision had definitely dehisced--popped open in medical jargon--and that now infection was my only concern. I was so fed up with this that I went and rode anyway for 2 hours afterwards (which was actually fine with the Dr. as long as I kept it covered) but I was so afraid of it popping open more that I used my already dominant left leg to pedal and torqued my back up in the process. Very frustrating and I have not been on my bike since.  I'm starting to get really cranky. I was good for a month but this is ridiculous. I will be starting to ride regularly this week hopefully!  Between grading and giving exams I am still in end of school year HELL so won't likely have much time to ride but I am going to try!

Today I went along to watch the State Road Race in Spring Prairie to cheer on Ashley and Kristin. I was really bummed out not to be riding but this whole thing has become much more serious than it seemed in the beginning and my hip bone was really hurting just walking around on top of everything else. I guess bone bruises take months to heal. The races were still ok to watch and in the end Kristin got a podium spot for Kenda just getting edged out by Katie from IS Corp for the Wisconsin State Title. Devon from BH (and Illinois) clearly won the overall race in a sprint to the line. Good job to all the women who raced. I also got to watch Greg racing in his Planet Bike kit--nice socks by the way--and he did well also climbing the hill strong each time! He took home a silver medal for the Planet Bike team!  Yay!

Kristin leads the charge

Greg slaughters the hill

Women's overall podium: Devon 1st, Katie 2nd, Kristin 3rd

It's bike to work week here in Madison so I hope you all get out and ride your bikes! Thanks for reading and see you on the road soon! (Let's hope!!)

1st day back on the bike! :)

I'm happy!  I just rode my bike for the first time in 36 days!

I decided it was finally time!  The incision seems to be staying together enough and it was a gorgeous day here--perfect for riding a bike!  :) So I rode around Lake Monona (in the city on the bike path) about 12-15 miles give or take. I must have had a smile on my face the whole time because I couldn't actually believe I was riding! It has been  a long time--36 days to be exact! I just rode easy with no power tap, no computer, no measurements and no pressure (not in my tires! :) ) It felt good but I am really tired and hungry now! I stopped to talk to a guy who was doing this cool metal sculpture and tried to enjoy the scenery a bit. Lots of families out on their bikes today so I had to be alert for sketchy children riding randomly but overall I wasn't scared at all. I thought I might be but I wasn't. My legs felt really good but I could feel it when I would hit a bump. My lungs unfortunately need a lot of work! At about the half way point on the ride I saw one of those speed limit machines going up a hill. I tried to push it a little and got up to 15mph on the incline!  :)  Kind of slow but I guess I haven't lost my competitive spirit. It has been a great day so far! YAY!

My team mates are out in Tulsa in what sounds like a crash fest! OMG!  The word "crash" just makes me cringe right now. I hate to see people get hurt, especially my team mates. It sounds like most everyone in the peleton is ok but Kristin reported a few more "serious" injuries yesterday. I think she was the only Kenda girl to go down but it sounds like she got up and walked out of it with only some minor road rash. I hope that everyone else will be ok! 

Krystal, Mike, Kristin, Me and Ashley at Snake Alley

Last weekend I went to Snake Alley, Melon City and Quad Cities crits with Kristin and Ashley and Cider our little doggie mascot. Of course I just went along to spectate and take a few photos but still had a great time. We met Catherine and Krystal there along with Mike, our team mechanic and his awesome wife Mary!  We also got to cheer for Megan doing the Cat 4 women's race at Quad Cities! We all had a great time hanging out together and Team Kenda brought home some great results too! Kristin and Catherine took 5th and 6th respectively at the Snake and at both Melon City and Quad Cities Catherine was 3rd for a podium finish each day for Kenda. Ashley unfortunately had a mechanical at the Snake and got sick the day after. Krystal rode strong in both the 2/3 and Pro 1/2 women's races and Mike had a great Cobble Climb in his kilt finishing 2nd in his age group!  Kudos to all my team mates and also to Mary for all the baked goods, oreos, animal crackers and good humor! :) I had made a list of the awesome amount of gross food I ate last weekend but seem to have conveniently lost it. Hmmm.  :)  It all started out with Cheetos and a Slushie at the gas station and led to going off the (vegetarian) wagon with the Chicken on a Stick (but I will keep reminding you all that it was REAL chicken not that fake spongy stuff!) and ending somewhere with a big piece of chocolate cake. There was a lot of other nastiness in between and I will post the whole list if I find it. :)

Here are some pics of our weekend!  In the first one it shows my hair after I used Ashley's straightening iron in the morning! It was fun to lose the curls for a day but I thought I looked sort of weird.

My hair after the flat iron. Jury is still out. I think I look weird in a rock star sort of way.

Ashley buys her secret weapon food for the Snake!

Mike rocks the Cobble Climb!

Kristin tackling the Snake!

Crap! Got pipped at the line by a rider on my wheel for 10 laps!

Catherine and Kristin push the pace at Melon City

Catherine on the podium at Melon City

Mary takes time off from her "soigneur" duties :)

Krystal rocks it at Quad Cities!

Megan corners hard in the Cat 4 race at Quad!

Our mascot Cider with Mr. Beaver!

I'm Carefree!! Wheeeee!

Yesterday I realized I had run out of bandages so I strapped a Carefree pad to my leg! Very soft and absorbent enough to take care of the remaining ooze!  hahaha

Freaky Karma!

The last week or so has been a crazy series of misadventures and I'm not so sure why the Karma has been so weird! To start off--I finally had my staples taken out last Monday and was relieved. It was interesting because the resident doctor took out the staples with his little tool and then said he thought I might need some steri strips to hold one end of the wound shut as it was still a little raw. He called in the "real" doctor for his opinion which was to leave it open.  At this point I did not look at my leg and decided to trust what he was saying. It is sort of hard seeing the back of my leg without a mirror but the next day I took a look and saw that the end of the wound was gaping open!  Yeesh!  I put a piece of tape on it and then spoke to the nurse at our school later that day.  She said that I definitely needed a couple steri strips and put them on for me.  It sort of made me mad that the doctor was teaching this resident and that the resident actually had the right answer but the doctor said I didn't need the strips!  Yeah, it's the back of my leg but it is MY leg and I'd kind of like to keep the scar to a minimum! Anyway, the following day at work my leg was itching like crazy!  I initially thought it was all the healing but when I got home and looked it turned out I had a really gross poison ivy-like oozing blister rash right where the steri strips had been!  I did some research on line and sure enough found out I had some weird allergic reaction to the strips!  Crap!  It was bad enough having this open wound but I really wanted to scratch my leg right off. I found some poison ivy calamine cream in my medicine cabinet but it was tough to sleep that night! With this wound still oozing and open there went the prospect of getting to the pool last week!  :(

My leg after the staples were gone! :)

Once I got the itching under control things were a bit better but that night at 2:00 am my carbon monoxide detector went off and scared the crap out of me.  I kept thinking it was the smoke detector but couldn't really tell where it was coming from. After disabling all the smoke detectors I realized it was the carbon monoxide detector. I called a friend and she told me I needed to call the fire dept. I thought that was kind of silly but probably better than not waking up the next day so I hesitantly dialed 911. The guy on the other end was nice and said I was definitely doing the right thing by calling. I told him to tell the fire dept. not to turn on their siren.  :)  Three firefighters showed up. I asked if they had been sleeping and had to quickly slide down the pole and get to their truck in a hurry.  They laughed and said that the pole sliding was out a long time ago.  They checked out my furnace and several other things and determined that the detector was faulty and should be replaced.  Phew!  Well, at least I was going to wake up to see another day.  I was so jacked up after that I couldn't really sleep.

Firefighters checking my furnace!

As my leg was healing the days were getting warmer and I was itching to ride--or at least swim. The weekend was finally here and I still couldn't swim or ride because that stupid wound was still open. Oh well, I guess I will do the next best thing--get the DRAGON out of my garage! The DRAGON, otherwise known as the Green Dragon, is the car that I got after my poor green beetle burnt up in the Nevada dessert last summer. It is a sweet custom GTI that I got from a guy in Chicago and my friends call it the "gangbanger" or the "pimp mobile".  Ok, it is a little flashy with it's tinted windows, 19" chrome rims, racing wheels and low rider style but it is a sexy little monster with a huge supercharger and kick ass alpine stereo system complete with tv screens! When I bought this car you have to realize I was traumatized by the loss of the beetle and didn't even want to buy a car. When I saw this gorgeous, fast green baby I thought--what a perfect time for a mid-life crisis car! And I bought it. Well, of course it was too low and beautiful for the Wisconsin winter so I kept it in my garage and bought a late 80's era Volvo for $800 from a college kid for the winter.  I call it the White Beast!  It is an amazing car and is one of those old heavy cars made from real metal!  It really is a Beast of a car and is an awesome winter beater!

Beautiful DRAGON!

Friendly BEAST!

So my friend Joe, who knows all about cars, came over to help me charge up the battery in the Dragon and we decided to drive her around the block for a test. As I was backing out of the driveway I hit this funky piece of cement that sticks out of my driveway about 6 inches. This piece was put in by the previous owner of the house to prevent water from draining into the garage. Well, in backing out the Dragon I bottomed out on it and it sounded bad. Joe said "nah, it's probably just the shield on the bottom of the car."  We drove it around the block and luckily not too far because when we got back and got out of the car I noticed something dripping on the driveway. I looked under the car and oil was POURING out! OMG! I had punctured the oil pan on that stupid cement chunk!!! Ahhhhhhh! Poor Dragon but it could have been much worse. Thankfully we didn't drive it too far or the engine would have seized up and that would have been the end of the Dragon! The worst part was that it was Saturday night and I couldn't have it towed until Monday. Ok, don't things come in 3's? I think this is about it for now! :) Freaky Karma indeed!!!!

DRAGON engine!

DRAGON stereo and TV!

I was sort of afraid to leave my house but even laying in bed was apparently not safe so Sunday I went to the Willy St. crits to cheer on my Kenda teammates! This year the race took place on the capitol square since there was some sort of construction on Willy St. It was a great race--fast from the gun--and lots of great midwest riders were there. Kristin won a cash prime and also a fully paid 14 days Superweek entry!!! Kristen Meshberg, a friend of mine from Illinois and riding for BH USA, took a convincing overall win over Kenda Kristin who got 2nd. She is such an amazing sprinter and BH had a really strong team there yanking the front on that last lap from what I could see.  Jill ended up 5th and I think Shelley took 13th.  Theresa, Ashley and Imelda were also representing but I am not sure where they finished! It was so much fun to go out and see everyone and cheer and take some photos and also say hi to Meredith and the IS Corps girls as well as some of my friends from Mad City Velo.  About 30 girls showed up for the race so it was a great turnout and awesome weather to spectate. Kristin, Jill and I got to hang out afterwards and have some food and drinks at the Irish pub.  We sat at an outdoor table right on the race course where we could watch the men's pro race. It was a really fun day and nothing bad happened!  :) Here are a few photos that I took!

Shelley, Jill, Imelda and Kristin by the capitol

Imelda, Kristin, Me, Jill and Shelley

Jill and Theresa get ready to race

Ashley at the start

Shelley leads the pack on her pink BLUE!