From Worst to Best; ha.. life's amusing

Back in Tallahassee, aka the southern south according to Monique, until tomorrow. Heading to Jacksonville for an athlete day on Friday and the Tour de Cure ride on Saturday and Sunday. Just got back last night from racing Kelly Cup & Tour of Somerville. After the previous race weekend, last week I really dialed in my insulin dosages, started doing lantus 2x/day (basal) and wearing the omnipod to bolus for meals. I decided that lantus as my basal insulin would work best for me. It acts as a "safety net" so that no matter what, I always have a bit of insulin in my system so that if an omnipod falls off again right before the start of a race, I will have more of a chance of being able to ride decently. The trick with lantus is you have to really think about what you've been doing the 24 hrs before your injection. I learned that lesson Sunday morning. After racing Saturday afternoon, did 9 units lantus before bed. Sunday morning woke up, was 80. A bit lower than I would have liked. Ate breakfast bolused 75% of what I normally would have, and did 8 units lantus. Monique & I ended up doing a ride with all the guys on the team that were also doing the crits. The whole ride, I could not get my BG up over 70. I was just dying! I ate like 4 gu's and a clifbar for our 2.5 hr gander. Whenever my BG is going low on the bike, I ride like such a sketch ball and can not focus on anything. I am pretty sure everyone on the ride thinks I ride like a squirrel now. For the last hr of the ride, I just ended up sitting on the back because I didn't want to deck anyone, hah. So lesson learned, gotta really cut back the lantus after riding hard...

Before we ended up in Baltimore for Kelly Cup, Monique and I did an athlete day in Pittsburg, went alright. The highlight of Pittsburg was when I decided to take Monique to Outback Steakhouse for her birthday, I had a sense she was homesick so I decided to take her for some authentic Aussie food. Some good ole' bloomin onions & Fosters! For dessert, we had A CHOCOLATE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!!!!!



Kelly Cup- an awesome experience! This was Monique and I's second time racing crits together, each set of races gets better and better. I am excited to see how we develop over the rest of the season. I really have some of the best 'teachers' this year to help me learn more about racing. The crit was a mile long course that had a tight little chicane, a long uphill drag to the finish, and a good bit of wind. About 1/3 into the race, I go for a prime to test the legs, end up winning a watch which I later gave to my good friend Emile as a token of our friendship, hah. After the prime I can tell the BG is dropping. I then decide to eat 2 GU's and sit in and focus on recovering. While I am not doing much, just crusing in the pack, monique is making the others girl work, attacking tons, and also winning a prime.. a pair of sunnies that fold up real crazy like. With 6 laps to go, Monique and I find each other. She asks me multiple times if I am alright, she knew something was up when I disappeared into the bunch after winning the prime. I told her that I was alright, I just had to eat some food and recover but I was ready to go. She then tells me to stick on her wheel and she'll get me to the front. I stuck on her wheel like my life depended on it. We ended up just hanging on the back of the Colavita train which worked out well for us! We ended up going 2nd & 3rd behind Shontell Gothier from Colavita. It was awesome to be standing on the podium with my teammate. Here are some photos off of cyclingnews & velonews.


here we are on the back of the colavita train

coming 2nd & 3rd
Monique, Shontell Gothier, Me

Monday, Tour of Somerville- So we went into this crit with the game plan that it was going to end in a field sprint so we just need to focus on the finish. The course was 2 km long, 4 corners, with 2 really long drags. It was pretty windy, so sitting in the bunch was pretty nice. Not much happened during the race, it was too windy for anything to get away and Colavita & Cheerwine were obviously wanting a bunch sprint. With 5 laps to go, they call a prime for $100, I am on this chicks wheel, she starts to go for it, so I hang on her wheel and at the last second try to swing around her and grab the prime, didn't succeed. Ended up just pulling a stupid move, and wasting a bit of energy. After that, I find Monique and once again am stuck to her wheel like my life depends on it for the 4 remaining laps. The pace started to pick up with 3 to go by Colavita & Cheerwine. We once again jump on to the back of the Colavita train. Time for the sprint, Monique launches a bit early but it had to be done, then I go jump onto a Tibco chick try to swing around her on the right, back off so I don't end up getting pinched up against the fence, finishing 6th. The team director was pleased with the way we rode because the competition at Somerville was a good bunch and there are only 2 of us. Being able to race with Monique really taught me how much racing is a team effort, without her I would have come no where near the results I managed this weekend.


wasting energy

Finish-Tina Pic taking names

Coming up next is the ADA Conference in San Francisco, CA. Me and the entire RAAM team will be there. Then the guys and Monique will be off the do RAAM in San Diego. I wish them all the best. I will be off to MN to race Nature Valley with Advil-Chapstick, exciting!

Later on