Another Great "fun ride" but this one hits close to home

I am taking advantage of all the hits on the blog to promote a great cause...
The Cycle for Life 2006 for Stroke education is being held on Saturday, Oct 14th at the Hanover Park Vineyard, Yadkinville, NC.
The “Cycle for Life...2006” offers the choice of a 25, 40, or 65 mile route through the Yadkin River Valley wine country. This ride strikes close to home because my boyfriend, Chris Sheehan, a.k.a big time "FUN RIDER" and a Blowing Rock resident, had a massive stroke at the age of 29 that should have killed him. He was one of the lucky ones who have recovered completely. Chris spent 6 weeks in the hospital, was forced to relearn to walk and spent 9 months in speech therapy. Nationally, there are approximately four million stroke survivors of whom two-thirds are moderately or severely disabled.

Last year was his first year to support the ride. It was a fantastic ride that helps many. If you are interested in riding with us or supporting the cause visit the NC Stroke Association web site. If you are unable to attend but still want to support the cause you can make a donation BUT we hope you are able to come ride with us.

Here is a picture from last years ride.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions regarding the stroke ride, contact Chris at sheehan@mac.com

Bridge 2 Bridge ain't no fun ride and taking the top female spot

Ok, I am going to be the first to say it, these so-called "fun rides" are NOT all fun and games. This past year I have spent a full season racing NRC's, regional races and even a couple of international races. This was also the first year I attempted one of "Grand Tour" centuries, such as the Bridge to Bridge, Mt. Mitchell or Blood, Sweat and Gears. Now some people i know train all year long for these little fun rides. I used to poke fun at those people and say I can't believe you are taking this fun ride so seriously. HOW LAME!!! Well not anymore, I found myself on Sunday getting up at 4:45 a.m., eating my breakfast, making sure I had all my race gear, I mean fun ride gear, in order and fighting for a position at the start line of the Bridge to Bridge. Let me tell you, I thought fighting a bunch a women for the start line of a NRC crit was bad. These fun riders won't budge an inch to let you squeeze in and they line up almost 30 minutes before the gun goes off. Two minutes before the start I rolled up to the very front of the start line and started chatting with the boys from Moto Velo while other people were being told to get to the back of the field, which was close to 1,000 riders. I sat right up in front of the yellow tape in the VERY front and waited to get yelled at to go to the back. I got lucky. The big guy from lenoir that was bossing everybody to the back of the pack chose not to pick on me (maybe cause i was the only female in a sea of men). I found myself in the best position possible almost like I got a call up at a huge race.

The ride started fast just like any other race but about 10 minutes into the ride a near miss with a truck at an intersection scared many of us at the front. Apparently, people in this neck of the woods don't know anything about cyclists and sunday mornings. This lady might as well been reading a book. She came to a screaching hault less than 5 feet from my bike and ME! HELLO... wake up call. These fun rides are not only like a race they can be dangerous.

For the next 50 miles it was pretty tame until we came to the road leading to the 11 mile climb on 181. The road leading to 181 is narrow and everyone wanted to move near the front, like that is going to help them on an 11 MILE climb. With about 4 miles left on Adacko some dude went down and took at least 30 riders with him. I barely dodged this crash and took a little detour on the side of the road. After that I got quite pissed and decided that I would rather die on a solo attack than be stuck waiting for some dude to take me down on a "fun ride". I caught the 15 riders at the front that weren't affected by the crash and I attacked them on a roller to get away. Here I am dying with the lead group breathing down my throat. I didn't care that I had possibly thrown the goal of first female down the tubes, all I wanted to do was make it to 181 in one piece with all my skin attached. Is that so wrong...sure enough my glory was shot down. Two miles into 181 the front group flew by me and I saw 2 females in that peloton and both were threats. I hadn't seen them all day so I knew that had been resting or sitting in and should be fresh.

When they passed I didn't care but when i reached the half way mark and Bryan Elliott passed me a freaking red bull and other goodies I started to gain some perspective. I wanted that title and I was about to go on a mission and I didn't care who I had to use, thus racer mentality. As I climbed the remainder of 181 I tried to make friends with every guy i passed. I gave them encouragement and even offered the backwash of redbull. A few accepted but most didn't. Soon I had a little train working to catch one of the females that had passed. It was Holli and she was hurting. We rode up to her and she said her knee was killing her. I wanted her to join our cause. She is a hard worker and always one to fight to the finish but it wasn't her day. Her injury got the best of her and we went on to chase a large group just up the road.

We topped 181 and I was feeling great. So great I missed the turn onto the Parkway. Don't ask me how this happened. I guess I was tucked behind a car getting a little ride down the decent and missed quite possibly the best opportunity to finish in the "really fast group", say sub 5:20:00. Anywho...I rode about a mile out of the way and finally a friendly car came up to me and said i was going the wrong way...WAHT THE HELL! I turned and saw NOBODY...not even one fellow cyclist! So I pedaled on by myself almost to the viaduct where 2 guys worked with me to reach the last leg, 221. At this point it was getting ugly and slow. I ride 221 all the time and I had never ridden it this slow. Apprently it wasn't as slow as i thought. The one girl who was in front of me was in my sights. I told the boys i was on a mission to catch her. They helped me bridge and from there on out it was just us at the front with the guys all sucking our wheels.

We finally reached the base of Grandfather Mtn. The BITCH of all mtns here in High Country. I was feeling surprisingly good considering we had rode 99 miles. The one other girl was struggling and kept riding slower. I decided to attack and she didn't respond. I pushed hard for the final 2 miles and it paid off. As I climbed the last stretch I could here the crowd scream, "First Female". It was incredible! I had accomplished my goal. I never knew it would mean that much to me but in the days following the B2B I have realized, it is quite a BIG deal to do well in one of these grand tour "FUN RIDES" and don't think for a second I won't defend my title next year and shoot for a better time. There were enough bets on this year's ride that I should have known better. Not only did I win a free hour massasge from the infamous Scott Herman but apparenly I won people money that I didn't even know...good for them. I am glad someone won some prize money from this event. Next year I think there should be a HUGE PRIZE LIST only for the women.

It was a great event and it is an event that everyone who rides it has a feeling of accomplishment. Make it a goal or just do it as a "fun ride" but this event is one that anyone who rides can appreciate.

Stay tuned for next week's blogs. I am headed to INTERBIKE in Las Vegas and then to Boulder, CO with Chris for some much needed R & R. I am sure I will have some stories for you but you know the rule, "what happens in VEGAS, stays in VEGAS" unless I can get some G-rated pics for you! If Boonan is present at INTERBIKE there will be no stories that I can publish...

For now I will leave you with what I plan to do for the next month, check out pic below. The pic at the top is all my NASHVILLE buddies that came to do B2B! They had a blast too and we enjoyed KILWINS in BR for an after dinner treat and Bistro Rocco for dinner.

Thanks for reading!

Winning the NC state RR championship and a 6 miles RR, yeah you heard me!

This past weekend was exciting, tiring and frustrating. I turned 29 on Sunday so I was dealing with the whole realization I am that much closer to 30. Thirty is a tough little pill to swallow. I have one more year to make excuses and come up with reasons why putting so much time and effort into bike racing makes sense.


My birthday weekend wasn't so bad. It was spent in typical fashion, loading up the car with bikes, chamois and other bike related items to head off to some strange city where hopefully "Veronica" (that's the garmin GPS) will deliver me without being rerouted 45 minutes out of the way. Beleive me, this happens more often that not, simply b/c I refuse to let another woman, nevertheless anyone, tell me what to do in the car. This weekend it happened to be Greenville and Atlanta all in the same shot. The NC/SC State Championship RR was being held on sat, US Pro on Sunday and the US10k (yes i did say 10k) on Monday. It was the perfect schedule. Race on sat, spectate on sun and race again on Mon.

Saturday turned out to be the average regional race. About 20-something girls showed up with a few notables players. I had already determined my plan of attack and who i wanted to form a break with. It was a 45 mile race of 3 laps. No significant hills but enough rollers to get away and stay away with the right mix. The race started out pretty negative with only a couple of us working at the front. I told the group it was going to be a very long day unless some others helped take a pull. With one lap down, I saw christina, a FUJI rider, go to the front. I saw her teammate out of the corner of my eye move up a bit. A big roller hit and sure enough Kat launched an attack. I was right behind Christina so I caught Kat's wheel and then Holli from Cheerwine and Christina were able to bridge for a solid break. We looked around at the top of the hill and we had a gap. It was exactly what I was waiting for. I turned to the girls and said let's make this work. We can definitely stay away. It was a strong break. We kept putting minutes on the field. I was a little worried about the finish. It was a downhill 300 meter sprint to the finish. As the last few k's were quickly approaching, i decided I had to go early to win this. With a little more than 500 meters to go and a quick right turn approaching into the finishing stretch, I launched an attack on the break. I got just enough gap to start the downhill. Holli was very close on my wheel. With a few meters to go I sprinted as fast and my 53/12 would take me and held her off for the win.

It was a satisfying win and it gave me the title of NC State RR Champion. I had raced a smart race and worked hard while doing so. I took that win and gained some confidence for Monday's NRC race. The early attack at the finish was out of character for me but it was well worth the hell my legs were going through. Normally I would kick myself in the ass for not trying that move but I had just seen that same move succeed in the masters 30+ race. Chris pulled out a win in the field sprint by doing the same thing. He took 4th overall and bronze in the NC RR field. Check out www.nc-scstateroadrace.com for results.

Monday morning came early. US PRO was a long day and the drive to ATL from Greenville was brutal. My parents were vacationing in FL the week prior so they were going to meet us in ATL for my bday and to watch the 10k. What a fabulous race to watch. I love that my rents support me but maybe they will figure out soon that road races are NOT very spectator friendly and they can stop wasting their time trying to see me in the race. Here is a pic of my rents and me after the US10k.


The US10k is notorious for being unpredictable. My plan was to be at the front and to go with whatever tried to go early. I did that but I did it one too many times too early. I was at the front from the gun. Two attacks went on the first 2 hills and I covered both. The 3rd attack launchd and Debby from Tupelo was right on it. I was about 10 feet from her wheel climbing the QOM. I had been working hard and closing gaps. I looked back and I had a gap on the field wiht the attack in reach. All of the sudden I pulled a POP TART and just let the gap get bigger. I thought surely the field would attack and i could grab a wheel. Instead when the field caught up to me and I yelled pull through, 3 girls sat there and looked at me like we we had all the time in the world and expecting me to pull them up there. Once again i yelled pull through but nothing. As it turns out, that was the race. That 2 person break stayed away and it came down to a sketchy downhill sprint for the finish. I finished up 14th. That was the scenario I was dreading. I was going to go at the BIG Chicken but the chicken wasn't big enought for me to see at 25 mph. I was bummed but at least took home some cashola to heal wounds.

This weekend is the Carolina Cup. My racing is about to come to close for the year. Not that many races left and my legs are feeling awfully sluggish after this past weekend.

We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned for next week's recap and then off to VEGAS for Interbike and then to COLORADO for some much needed R & R.

Thanks for reading.