Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Hola!



Well, I hope this works. This blogging thing is all new to me. (Actually, I don't know how to do anything because all the blogger site is written in Spanish! So, the pictures are posted where they want to be posted... not where I want them to be posted!)

Greg and I are here in Mallorca vacationing/riding/relaxing. Besides today's rain, the weather has been awesome and allowed some serious rides. I know I am spoiled by living in Colorado but, here in Mallorca, this is some of the most beautiful riding I have ever done. And yes, Dr. Julie, I am climbing these mountains AND enjoying them.

The roads out here are made for riding bikes and the drivers respect that. Even in the narrow sections, the drivers patiently wait behind the cyclists until there is room to pass. The mountains are gorgeous and outline the coast to make picture perfect views. We have not been great about taking pictures, but I did attach some (notice my treat of choco milk I am buying in the pastry shop mid-ride). Actually, the first day, we did bring the camera but jumped in with a group of German cyclists leaving our little beach town. We stayed with them for about 4 hours of riding in the mountains. With the warm fuzzy feeling we were receiving (haha), I didn't have the nerve to take out my camera and start making light of their pace.

We arrived on Thursday and have been riding/exploring every day since. It is funny that our daily routine has not changed much even though we are on vacation: lots of riding, lifting weights, sleeping, reading, and cooking. I guess the only difference is that we don't have the daily "things" in life to take care of. Oh, and we don't have the internet to distract and delay everything we do.

Some of you may like to know exactly what we have been doing... so here it is:

Friday- Our first ride of our vacation and we joined the friendly Germans for a 4 hour mountain ride.
Saturday- We found the gym and did our lifting workout.... rode a short while in the afternoon.
Sunday- We did about 5.5 hours on the bike we some harsh intervals in between. (Hence the pastry stop witnessed below.)
Monday- Gym stuff again and a nice hour ride at night... it started raining (and we crashed... this makes a nice story) so we headed home.
Tuesday- It was a mild 3 hour ride and we came home to find Missy.
Today- It rained all day so we spent some time in the gym.

Ok... more later. Internet is freakin' expensive here! I wish you guys were here with me... we would have lots of good times!

Cari

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Great Rides w/ good friends!

Hey ladies! I just wanted to introduce to the ladies in my women's group ride on Thursday! This week, the roads were excellent- and the training went splendidly. I hope everyone is doing swell! I miss y'all and can't wait to ride with you soon.
~~ Kate
(the first photo is my first attempt at the group shot-- but I thought it was funny... By the way, it took months to get the nice white forehead.)

Friday, March 23, 2007

Miss you All



Hi Teamies,
What a long week. I was looking through photos from camp (um, can't call it band camp anymore) and found this one with Yogi, "the thief" dog. Hey Heather, did you ever find your blue tooth?

So the good news of the week is we got Tifosi sunglasses for all. Two pair even! I'll be handing those out/mailing them shortly. Well, the first pair, anyway. Rachel and I tag teamed on this one; I had the contact, Eikes did the leg work and she got us 2 pairs each!! I was sporting my set today, even though it wasn't sunny.
Thank you Eikimoff!

Tomorrow I'm doing the Drop the Doc ride...my spring "training" series. If I can hang tomorrow, I'll be in good enough shape to race next week. Send good vibes to Betsy1, who is racing Redlands. As you know from her bio, that race "kills her everytime but she keeps going back." Atta girl, Boom boom. The next time might be the breakthrough...
ttfn,
dq

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Love those eyes.




Man - this little guy could piss on your cowbike & get away with it - such puppy eyes.


Later,
Momma Schmitt

Monday, March 19, 2007

I think I discovered the problem with my bike....



I have ridden a fair amount this week and as Dr. J and Rachel know, I was having some shifting problems. At first I thought it was because of the older casette/newer chain combo but yesterday I found the real reason: both screws that hold the rear der hanger on were missing!

I went for a lovely ride yesterday out toward the western part of Dane County and decided I'd change my tires when I got home. Once home and after a snack of everything in the cabinets, I went at the tire project. I droppred the rear wheel out and the entire derailleur came with it. Of course if it had come off during the ride I'd of been in the weeds looking for a piece of wire to fasten it back on. (It wouldn't have been the first time road side mechanics got me home)! Not like calling home would help either; "Hey Gabs, jump in the car and meet me out at Sunset and Range Trail, would ya?? No stopping at Dairy Queen either."

Anyway, I'll be taking both bikes to our pals at Willie Street for some TLC today. It's supposed to be 50 and sunny which means a ride is in order.

I hope you all had good weekends of training and/or racing. Betsy and Cari were racing in Visalia and CN only had brief results so we'll have to wait to hear how it went. Betsy S went to the mountains with Gunnar to ride--on single speeds. Tough girl points for that, Bunny! Talk at you soon,
dq

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

A few photos thay may crack YOU up.

Of course there are shenanigans on long trips... especially a trip that is highly concentrated with cowgirls. First thing, I really enjoyed getting to know my fellow teammates. I am looking forward to many more host housing opportunities as well as dinners, and, finally, RACES!! BOVIS FUGIT.




This was in RAYMOND, CA. The home of a general store, a school?, and a post office. This teeny town was engulfed with a trove of cyclists. Here is Heather and Betsy warming up. I was sure to get plenty of documentation and will be creating some sort of online gallery for y'all to check out.







If you can't tell, Anna and I miss everyone already. (These photos were documented directly after Cari rolled off into the California sunset. We were sad.




But it didn't take long until we were happy again. I think that this was probably the best prime ever. Thanks Cari for the prime, and thank you Anna for giving Cari the sweet lead out for the prime. Teamwork works.




Our bikes on the runway, waiting to get on board... We saw them getting loaded from our seat in the plane!

We made it back to the tundra, only to find that it wasn't very tundraish. 70 degrees! Good to be back in the midwest. Thanks everyone for a great experience. And to those that didn't get to join us- I'm looking forward to all of the future documentation I'm going to do!!

Ciao,
Kate

Day 19 as a Vegetarian

So it's March and it's 50 degrees. And my vegetenariasm is going well. I had sauteed greens with bulghur wheat and a home made veggie burger last night. It was goo-od! I feel good and have plenty of energy so I have to say, I like it.

Anyway, I got to ride yesterday with Dr. J and as usual I was hanging on to her wheel for a good part of the ride. The good news is I know what I have to do to get fit. I told Julie that I felt better yesterday than I did a week ago so I'm seeing fast improvement. Kind of like the feeling you get when you dust the furniture after, oh, 3 months. You really feel like you can *see* the results!

Base? I don't need no stinkin' base! 10 years of riding count for something right? Let the experiment begin. I'm planning on racing March 31 in a RR so that means I have to ride just about every day between now and then. And, of course I want to win every race so no matter what, I'll put myself where I need to be to help the team or get the win...fit or not.

Good thing Dr. J has a flexible schedule. I will look forward to more rides where I can see drastic improvement.

I miss you all...til soon.
dq

Friday, March 09, 2007

New Hoof-Covers



What's a Cowgirl to do when she's feeling a little blue about not getting to hang out with the rest of the herd? Scour the internet for a new pair of shoes, of course!!!
Now I just have to figure out how to put a cleat on the bottom...

Have a great weekend, everybody!

That is one annoyed-looking doggie.

come on guys - update!!




Hi all. Just curious on how's it going. Love to hear even a little bit.
Not much new here. Al three kids are watching TV, and that's about it.

Later
J

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Business as Usual at Camp

What would a road trip be without a stop at Target? Here's everyone in some easter gear. The lady who took the photo said it was the most fun she'd had all day.

The trip so far has been good. The only thing that would make it better is if everyone was here.

Let's see, a few highlights:
- The host family is amazing, thanks to Dan and Leann for putting up with us
- the riding is incredible
- Tri Sports in Fresno is an awesome bike shop

Sorry this is a short entry--just wanted to say hi and let you know we miss you. I hope you are feeling better Eikes, and Dr. J, hope things smooth out.
dq

Sunday, March 04, 2007

California Here We come

The pasty white Wisco riders, anyway. The trio of Heather, Betsy and Cari have been racing in Cali and AZ already so they have a good start to their tans. Me, Julie and Kate will be doing our best to not burn ourselves to crispy bacon. Make that tofu-bacon.

Btw, this is DAY 10 of vegetenarianism for me and it's going well. My energy is really good, in spite of this wicked virus I'm in the process of beating back. Dr J brought me some soup on Thursday night which was really sweet.

I think I've talked to everyone in the last few days and what I heard from you is all upbeat and all are anxious to spend more time together. I have to say this is one cohesive bunch of riders. It gets better every year so thanks everyone for looking after one another.

Send good vibes from the home front. And just for your viewing fun, here are a few of my favorite photos from last year's camp:
This is Anna and her super sweet brother, Frankie, at the coffee shop in Pomona.

And below is Anna, dancing with some yummy food. Anna will dance when she gets food she likes, like chocolate. This is how it looks when she's tucked in and gets some treat.















And I had to re-post this one. It's a priceless shot of Laura pretending to drive Betsy's motorcycle with Trish on the back. Note Laura's cow print changing skirt.


And what would a blog entry be w/o a photo of Tippy playing dead? She's very much alive and snoring in the living room right now.

Have a great weekend. We'll write more from the road.
--dq

Bon Voyage


Hi Guys,
Just wanted to say have a great trip, good luck with the travels, and keep all of us Cowgirls that are stuck in more frigid climates informed of your good times and sunny warm rides! I hope you get to go see the Sequoias, but there might be some snow up that way, and I am sure most of you have seen more than enough snow for the year.

Ride Fast!
BS

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Awesome Biking Bars Experiemnt

Hey everyone!

Last night, I made some of the awesome biking bars. Mine were a bit crumbly, so I think the bars may have been baked a little too long. Nonetheless, they were phenomenal. I'm going to use the extra crumbs this morning for cereal.

After they were done, I tried to get Julie to have some too... I wish you could have tried one!

:)

I hope all is well- 2 days until we leave for California. :)

~~
Kate