I believe...

it's time to get a tan and officially start blogging again, not that i was ever religious about it but I am making a serious effort to keep you updated on all the 2008 race/riding/life happenings. Some are exciting and some may not be but it is my goal to be somewhat diligent since I have a pretty great opportunity this year racing for the Pro Team Cheewine. See the 2008 Cheerwine press release.

I have already been over to Santa Rosa for a week in January for a "non-camp" with some of the riders. See the group minus my roomie for the week, Stacey Marple
(photo courtesy of teammate, Leigh Hobson)
It really was a great week. The riding was incredible and I couldn't have asked for better team camaraderie. There is nothing like sleeping, riding, eating, hanging out with teammates and repeating for a week to make you appreciate that this is what I get to do in 08! I also got to be roomies with a sleep talker which made my first night there a little frightening. I won't go into details but my lesson learned is that ear plugs are a must unless you want to lie awake a night wandering if your new teammate already can't stand you...we're of course all good once I learned not to take anything personal.

In a couple of days I will be back out west in sunny Tuscon, AZ for our "real" team camp. All the riders and staff will be there. These camps lay the groundwork for the entire season. Everyone meets, goes on rides, gets to know each other, etc. You get the picture. I am sure there will be some worthwhile stories from camp. For now, we had 4 girls racing the Women's Tour of CA crit this evening. Results are in and LVG took 2nd in the sprint. Good way to start off now we get to go fine tune in AZ. SWEET!!!

For now, it's back to the daily grind of coaching and training. Some of my favorite clients right now include, the flashy and super fast Black Sheep Cartel. These guys are sure to make a some heads turn in the upcoming months on the regional and national racing scene.

Other items that are keeping me so busy is the little lady.
She is so energetic and more than a handful. Guess once racing starts, I will have to pack her in the bike bag and take her with me. There is no way I can leave this little sweet face at home!


Camp starts Wed and leaving the cold, wet, rainy east coast is fine with me. Leaving my man to tend to all my athletes at the annual GREENVILLE TRAINING SERIES is whole other stress. For now, I have one athlete that already has a "VEE" under her belt. Congrats to Lauren Beastall for kicking some butt in the race up at NC State yesterday!!! All her hard training is paying off.

Busy Bee

WARNING! If you read any post from this day forward in 3rd person it isn't because Robin has gone crazy. Instead her rock star cycling lifestyle has taken up all her time and now she is required to pay someone to blog her life.

Since her last post in November the training has ramped up, she has acquired a couple new coaching clients and traveled to California for a 2 week "Sherina" training camp. This training camp has involved copious amounts of riding, sleeping, drinking wine and repeating. Her response time has slowed down but due to a recent gift of an iPhone she has been sending photos to unexpecting email accounts.

As you can see from the photos Chris (boyfriend) and her are spending plenty of hours of bonding - I mean training - on on the bike. The hills of California have been treating them well but they will return to civilization and real work this week.



Enjoy the photos and look forward to Robin's imaginary friend (that's me) playing the part of blogger for the cycling rock star.

Ah the off season...

You gotta love the fall and winter when you're a bike racer. It's about the only time I really get to spend hanging out and and playing "mom" to Lucy, my 9 month mutt pup.

Just in the past couple of months, she has become quite a handful. It's Thanksgiving today and I was looking forward to a quiet day of sleeping in late, getting a long ride in and eating some serious grub this evening. So much for that, Miss Lucy is an earlier riser and she likes to wake up everyone in the neighborhood. Now this is a very exciting time for her. It's deer season in this neck of the woods and our neighbors are big deer hunters. Every time Lucy gets to go outside she bolts and is gone for random amounts of time. This morning at 5:30am she wanted to come back in the house with this awful deer leg. It was disgusting and couldn't even fit through the door. So we hid it from her but that didn't last long. Here she is enjoying her Thanksgiving meal in our yard. She is a sweetie until you try to take anything way from her that she is chewing on and then she becomes serious pooch.


Besides all the excitement that Lucy brings, I have been seriously busy with coaching. I have taken on several new clients for 2008 that will provide me with a challenge. I have some females that I am coaching and look forward to seeing them succeed next year. I am also coaching several of the Black Sheep Racing guys. This is a new team out of Charlotte that will be on the racing scene next year. They have several U-23 riders, a couple of juniors and a few experienced riders. It will be interesting to see them come together in a team atmosphere. More to come on how all this unfolds.

The fall has been fun. One weekend the coaches of Per4mance Training and our significant others had a coaches retreat up at Tsali, one of the best mtn biking areas of the East Coast. We had a blast and rode a ton. Here is a pic of us at one of the lookouts.

The following weekend I attempted to give cyclocross racing a shot again. Here is a couple of pics of the one cross race I attempted so far in the off season. I raced the Lenoir Cross race which was about 20 minutes from where I live. For some reason I was so bad at the transition that I found it funny. See big smile as I got passed on most every barrier. You got have fun when you are racing cross, right?

In the end i still had to take it serious b/c it was a race. Lots of women showed up and made it interesting. I am looking forward to doing a couple in Jan in the NC Winter Cross Series. I am not a really good cross racer by any means. It's strictly for fun and giggles, not to mention is hurts pretty freaking bad. Here is one of Chris on the run up in the master's race in Lenoir.

Finally, I am super stoked about the team I will be riding for in 2008. It will test my ability and be a great learning experience. I believe there will some kind of press release shortly so I will hold off on making any news flashes on my blog but trust me, this will definitely be a year that is going to be BLOG WORTHY so stay tuned.

My training has already started and the miles are starting to build. Unfortunately, we had a 65 degree day yesterday at noon and now it's 31 degrees out there today. How does this happen? I am looking forward to my 10 days in CA over Christmas. Hopefully it will be warm there and plenty of opportunity to do some epic miles. If anyone wants to join me on some long days while out in the San Jose/Santa Cruz area, get in touch! For now it's out for some trail running, maybe a little mtn biking or cross and definitely some major painting this afternoon.

Lastly, I discovered yesterday there is a reason I should always go home for holiday meals. Our neighbors invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner since Chris and I were going to stay home paint and ride. I offered to bring a pumpkin pie for dessert since I became a PRO at it last fall. Went to the store got all my ingredients. It looked so good when it came out of the oven. We took it over and as we were just about the cut into the pie, I said, you know it looks like something is missing in this pie. I totally forgot about the pie crust. I picked up a pie pan with and without crust at the store and made a decision that i didn't need a pie pan with crust in it. I knew i needed crust at the store but it didn't occur to me at all yesterday while i was baking that i didn't have any crust. So needless to say, we ate pumpkin pudding instead of pumpkin pie. It was the Low Carb dessert for Thanksgiving dinner. I was very embarrassed but at the same time not at all surprised. It never said on the directions to get a pie crust. I am not responsible for this one but it is Libby's pumpkin pie mix that is at fault. No more cooking for me during this holiday season. I'll just ride my bike instead. It's safer for everyone, I hope!

VEMMA...it's the juice you want to be on.

Ok maybe it is, maybe it isn't but every since I have been drinking 2-4 ounces of VEMMA everyday and a little more after hard rides, I have been feeling like a rock star! I was introduced to it through a guy who wanted to buy some custom socks for DeFeet. Chris started yapping about this stuff and I was like ok whatever, bring some home and I'll try it. Of course, I already take handful of LEGAL supplements like most racers hoping to stay healthy while giving that extra kick so I said what the heck. I raced in Bermuda on it and felt great, forgot it while in Vegas (very bad call - it's the one place you need it to most) and got back on it while visiting the headquarters which were in Scottsdale, AZ which just so happened to be where I was visiting my little sisters for some R & R after Interbike. It was like it was meant to be. I believe in that kind of crap. Things happen for a reason and it's all about being at the right place at the right time. Honestly, if I hadn't visited Vemma headquarters and saw that it was legitimate business and all the super motivated employees, I more than likely wouldn't have believed in it myself.

Now I am not a doctor and I don't pretend to play one on tv but I can tell when I am feeling good and energetic. Normally, I wake up and it takes 2.5 cups of very strong coffee to make me want to get my day going. Not these days, I tell ya I have almost passed up on my coffee just b/c I don't need it. I hate saying that. Coffee is like a drug you are supposed to need it. Can't I have just one addiction in my life besides riding my bike? Well I guess now it is VEMMA and cycling.

Really I will wrap my soap box up now. Go to my site and check it out. All the nutritional info is there and it's pretty simple concept. It's good for you! Now who doesn't need that? If you want some email off my site and I will respond. Then pass it on to the people you care about and want to see healthy and happy.

So my racing season has finally almost ended. This weekend I am headed to Greenville for the fall festival races. My motivation to race is definitely not at an all time high but making some cashola is high on the priority list. Since the Vegas race I have been busy coaching, selling my soul to teams that will let me prolong the racing lifestyle and trying to figure out what to do in the event that doesn't occur. Tonight I decided that mountain biking is so much harder than I remembered. Rule 1: when courting new clients to coach, don't let them take you out and kick your butt on anything that has to do with cycling. You have to show them you are the knowledgeable one and that you can help them. Instead they were waiting on me to pick myself up out of the bushes and off the rocks as they waited for me at the top of technical sections. I thought climbing was hard, forgot it was even harder when there are big roots and rocks trying to block your line. Rule 2 - Drink Lots of VEMMA the minute you walk in the door. It will make you feel better. That's all the rules I have at this time. Usually, I am one to think rules are meant to be broken. It's the wild child in me.

I will leave you for now of some pictures of me at the World Championship Crits in Vegas. I did crash on the first lap and I can attest it wasn't my fault. I was indeed chopped in the corner and went flying like SuperWoman in to the pit. I had already endured a not-so-pleasant experience in Vegas thus far. My man suffered a seizure in the first 24 hours of me being there so he was on Valium the entire time and doesn't even remember being there. A spoke on my back wheel broke on the ride over to the race and I cut my face with a tire lever while changing a tire for the Mavic guy who was telling maybe it wasn't my day to race my bike prior to the start of the crit. When i came running in after the first lap he actually starting laughing at me b/c he thought i was insane for pressing my luck again by going back out that crit. Crazy, I am sometimes...this one is of my wounds after the race.

Notice how nice the pavement accentuates your abs when it circles around you belly...it hurt worse then it looked, especially when my friend who is a real DR. threw a Heineken Beer on it and it burned like a SOB!

Finally here is one of me once I got back in the race and went off the front for a few minutes to pick up a very much needed prime. It is Vegas ya know all all my money was going to taxi cab drivers and black jack dealers.

Don't forget on Saturday, Oct 20th. The NC Stroke Foundation is sponsoring the Bike Tour, Cycle for Life 2007 . This is a great ride that starts and finishes up at the Hanover Park Vinyard. After the several ride options there is always plenty of food and wine for everyone. Come out and support a great philanthropy!

My blogging inadequacies...

I have been a very naughty blogger. No updates since Philly. My motivation to finish one of these things has been rather low lately. I have been racing, I promise. In fact i have been racing a lot and the next couple of weeks are full road trips and race weekends. I have tried to write some blogs but every time i start one i get distracted and forget to finish. It's a severe case of ADHD and I am pretty sure I need to be on the drugs for it but not sure that is the route i want to take so I will go on being easily distracted and any readers will have to forgive me for my lack of follow through on these oh SO very important racing/life updates that i know you can't live without.

(Toona report is from July) I started this in July - Just got back from the Tour de Toona on Monday. Toona is notorious for being the toughest women's stage race in America. It is 7 days long and has quite a bit of climbing. I rode for a composite team called Bike Hugger and at the end of the week, this team turned out to be very competitive with the top teams in America taking 6th in team GC.

This year's Toona was very unique. The race started with a TTT, which was a unknown beast to many. None of the teams except maybe one got to really practice this event before hand. It was exciting and fun but also made me quite nervous. Here is a pic of our team starting out. We had a solid TTT performance. As for the rest of Toona, well go to cyclingnews.com and get the info.
I had good finishes. One day got in a 70 mile break and somehow finished with the lead group. That was fun. The crit was a blast too. Nothing like finishing a tough 7 day stage race with a screaming fast leg burning crit. My favorites.
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Since Toona, I have raced the Charlotte Criterium, Hanes Park Crit, Elk Grove, a local TTT with the Harris Teeter Girls (in which we set the Women's TTT record), Mengoni Grand Prix anc Chris Thater. The most exciting of them being Mengoni in Central Park.

I won Mengoni in a solo break with 3 miles to go. What a fantastic race! Yarden, my teammate from Israel, Hiroko and I decided we had plenty of time if we left CT at 4:20 am and make it to the race that started at 6:00am. We got there with about 15 minutes till the start and it was still dark out when we started. It was the most fun I have had in a long time in a race. Here is a pic of me crossing the line in Central Park. You gotta take advantage of these pics when you get them or at least I do, since they are rare!


Since that weekend, my season for Targetraining has come to a close. I have been at home doing some local races. It's totally different racing than NRC's. In fact, sometimes it's painful. The pack is happy to cruise and rarely launches attacks at all. Typically I like to be aggressive in these races. I want to make it hard from the beginning and make girls' legs hurt. This is racing not some Sunday afternoon tea party...Sometimes it pays off but often times I try so hard for a break, i wear my self out. Yesterday I tried a different tactic. Some would call it patience. I tried so hard it hurt worse than going hard. I sat and sat and sat in the pack till we hit this little roller and I had to attack just to see if there was anyone to respond. I had a gap and then sat up. Just wanted to play some little games but unfortunately I was too patient and waited for it to come down to a field sprint, which is the last thing I want. Someday I am going to learn that to be a sprinter one must get up out of the saddle and bumps a few elbows if I want to win a sprint. Maybe next time.

The season is not over yet. There are a couple of races that I am looking forward to very much. Bermuda Grand Prix is next week. I am guest riding on Cheerwine which will be very exciting. My good friend Beth Frye will be with me drinking fruity drinks, trying to get LVG and Kelly B. to the finish line and trying to even out the cycling skinsuit tan. I am almost positive when we come to town for this race, the locals get so scared of the bad tans lying around, they probably just stay inside. I am also intrigued by the moped stories I have heard about. I want one so bad that I just may have to bring it home with me or ride it to VEGAS.

After Bermuda, it's time for Vegas, BABY!!!! This year is going to be much better than last. All the racers will be in town for the big crit on thurs night. Most will be ending their season after this so I am sure Vegas will be rockin after the race. Good times 4-sho! This is what we have been waiting all season for...Like last year, most of the photos from Vegas will not make the blog. It will give you incentive to come out and play next year.

Lots of other exciting things have gone on like Miss Lucy being repossessed (only for a couple of hours) but in order for you to be in the know i have to be a more competent blogger. Miss Lozano, former teammate turned business school professional, wrote some rules for blogging just the other day. Keep your children far away from this blog!!! I do have to agree she makes some valid points here...enjoy but only just a little.

More in a more timely fashion, I promise...

Triple crown and an unwanted guest

I am finally back from a week and half of traveling all over the Northeast racing my bike and "acting" like a pro bike racer. There were actual moments that I was riding like one too and those i will get into a little later on. It's good to be home but I ship off again on Tues of this coming week to go to the Nature Valley Stage Race in Minneapolis, MN.

More importantly, Little Lucy, my new pup, isn't so little anymore. I swear that she has gained 10 pounds since i left and has an attitude problem. A couple of nights ago while sitting on the couch with 8 of her bones and toys, I went to move her over and she growled so loud at me. I was scared. Now i have had dogs before that are a little possessive but Lucy has brought it to a whole new level. I took all of her toys away except for one and hid them. She then proceeded to go and find each toy and bring them back to the couch and hover over them again like someone was trying to steal them from her. These new actions on her part have caused me to stay up late watching episodes of the The Dog Whisper with Ceasar. He seems to know what he is talking about most of the time but whenever I do that sound that he makes, like your shooshing something, Lucy just looks at me like I am an idiot and goes back to biting the back of my legs and ass while walking. I think that guy Ceasar just likes walking around shooshing everyone...enough of that. here is new pic of Lucy Loo. Doesn't she look sweet???? I wander if there is a local Dog Whisperer who can help with Lucy...Here is a little Lucy Link for those of you that care.


So back to the racing adventures. Last week was busy. It started out 2 Saturdays ago in Arlington, VA at the CSC race. There was a decent field there with some pretty good sprinters. The race started aggressively with a couple of attacks. I was feeling good in the mix with just about everything. A dangerous break went up the road with LVG, an Aaron's rider and a couple of others. I wasn't worried b/c my teammate Leigh Valletti was on it. I sat in the pack thinking this was quite nice and that we were finally racing as a team. Well that break started to explode with some attacks within. I saw Leigh coming back with a few others but LVG and an Aaron's rider was still gaining time. For some idiotic reason nobody wanted to bring these two back. It was totally frustrating. I tried several times to get a chase working but nothing. Not even Colavita wanted to work. So the break stayed and it ended in a field sprint. I was 15th that day. Lots of hard work and not a lot to show for in that race.
Lancaster was the next day in PA. It was the 1st of race of 3 in the triple crown series. I felt really good this day and was looking hard to get in a break. For now, that is the only way i can get a top finish. There were some really good sprinters in this series and I felt this race was destined for a break. Sure enough, with about 20 laps to go a very powerful break formed including Ina Tutenburg, LVG, Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Catherine Powers, one other and me. I had been covering every move all day so finally when the break went on the power climb on the backside i was stoked and wanted this to stick. This was a powerful group and Ina kept attacking the break but I was still hanging on. This was a great feeling to be in the company of these riders. I felt all my hard work had payed off with this break but unfortunately the cycling gods weren't in my favor. With 5 laps to go i was sitting comfortably in the break going around a corner and my back tire flatted. I didn't quite know it until Ina was screaming at me in broken English that i had a puncture. I was so pissed. Headed straight to the pit but they had cut free laps off with 8 to go. They gave me a spare bike Mavic bike that was way too big for me and had toe clips. It was embarrassing and i felt like i was in the circus and all I wanted to do was throw that damn bike down on the ground. Oh well that's racing and it was good while it lasted.
The Reading crit on thurs wasn't much more exciting. With Ina and Laura there it was bound to come down to a field sprint. I raced aggressively and was off the front for a couple of laps but it was going to be a showdown of the sprinters again. I am trying to find my sprinting legs but more importantly i am trying to find the guts to be in the sprint.
In between races I spent time up in Westport, CT. It was great to be able to spend time at Targetraining and hang out at the shop. I even got to go on some training rides with the TT clients. Big thanks to all the support that our women's team has been receiving from all the Targetraining staff. They were super the whole week and not to mentioned tons of fun on the van rides to and from the races.

The Liberty Classic is always an exciting race. It has been a sprinter's race the past 3 years i have done it so i suspected it would end up in a field sprint. I was hoping for a break again but the shattered pack sat up after the last time up Lemon Hill which allowed all the sprinters to catch back on and make things chaotic for the finish. There was a crash in the last kilometer that caused me to swing way wide and lose my position. I ended up 33rd for the day. I felt great up the wall and never felt like i was stressed. Typically there are lots of crashes in this race but once again I finished the race without going down. Here is a pic of me on the wall. Oh well it's more of a pic of a cheerwine rider but you take what you can get.


I will have more news about this week's Nature Valley Stage Race. For now i will show you what i found when heading out for my ride yesterday. The guy in the pic is my neighbor (he's hot huh) who had to rescue me. James swears it was a friendly snake but I had to disagree. James is our local former stock car driver who loves to tell stories of moonshine. Ah you gotta love mountain living and I get to look at his big belly most every weekend from my porch!

Sucker that I am for Miss Lucy

This is what happens when you go to Lowe's on Saturday mornings. Instead of coming back with home improvement supplies, I come home with Lucy. Now she is a sweet as could be but I am wandering what I am going to do with her with all the racing and travel i have coming up in the next few months. Some things in life are hard to resist. She needed to be rescued and I got suckered but who can seriously resist a face like this...Any suggestions?

The only way i would part with her is if I knew she was going to a good family who had time to spend with her. She is very mild-mannered and a great cuddler. She likes to lie on the couch, watch tv and she likes long walks in the forest. AND she is a sprinter!

Here is another pic of miss lucy doing what she does best.