Touring London

Sunday was a marvellous day in London and I hired a bike for about 4 and a half hours to tour the West End area. It was really incredible to see the monuments and Palaces the Empire had created but it was also wonderful to peek into the lives of Londoners as friends took to the parks to relax on the weekend.

Riding in the city was incredible and I felt totally safe. I felt as long as I respected traffic they would respect me. The toughtest thing was balancing trying not to run over things and not hit people while sightseeing and trying to keep track of directions! As you can see I did a lot of backtracking.



One thing I did not know about London is that there is a canal network running through it! There is one junction called Little Venice. It is very quaint!

Map of the Ride!

Alum Creek

Well, this pretty much sums up my race today:

"Everybody wants to say, 'I couldn't win because of this or that,' " Landis says. "To my way of thinking, it doesn't matter if your goddamn head fell off or your legs exploded. If you didn't make it, you didn't make it. One excuse is as good as another."
- F. Landis

I didn't expect to win but I thought top 3 was certainly possible. Finished 4th. In the money but very disappointing result. Nobody wants to hear my excuses. At least I got to see some friends I haven't seen in a while. Got some exercise. Didn't break myself or my bike. Got to eat a lot of cookies on the way home.

My dog was happy to see me so we went for a nice walk when I came home. She chased cats, I walked off some muscle soreness. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow from work to recoop.

Good idea!

I spotted this on the Road Bike review while I was trying to see if anyone had posted any spy photos of Trek's 2009 line-up. It is a vending machine full of tubes, tools, water bottles, you name it.

Dang, that is a good idea. My only reservation would be riding with $/Credit Cards...I know in China/Japan they are/have developed ATM machines that read your fingerprint.

I hope to see something like this on the Loveland Bike trail or at a park by downtown Cincinnati.

Good idea!

I spotted this on the Road Bike review while I was trying to see if anyone had posted any spy photos of Trek's 2009 line-up. It is a vending machine full of tubes, tools, water bottles, you name it.

Dang, that is a good idea. My only reservation would be riding with $/Credit Cards...I know in China/Japan they are/have developed ATM machines that read your fingerprint.

I hope to see something like this on the Loveland Bike trail or at a park by downtown Cincinnati.

Amanda Sproat - All pro racer

It was bound to happen. My good friend Amanda finally submitted her request for a pro upgrade to USA Cycling. Now I say I got my ass kicked by a pro racer rather than just my really fast friend Amanda.

Anyhow, cheers to you A for all the hard work! Good job!

Amanda Sproat - All pro racer

It was bound to happen. My good friend Amanda finally submitted her request for a pro upgrade to USA Cycling. Now I say I got my ass kicked by a pro racer rather than just my really fast friend Amanda.

Anyhow, cheers to you A for all the hard work! Good job!

Seven

The Trek Store here in Cincy is now carrying Seven Cycles. Ahh they are incredibly sweet indeed. If you get a chance to check out their catalog you'll be amazed by the range of options.

Seven

The Trek Store here in Cincy is now carrying Seven Cycles. Ahh they are incredibly sweet indeed. If you get a chance to check out their catalog you'll be amazed by the range of options.

DINO Muscatatuck AMBC

Well the DINO race is almost always muddy. I don't know why that is, it seems like for the past few years a T-Storm rolls in a few days before the race but it dries out just enough to be rideable yet still incredibly sloppy.
My husband James went with me to the race which was nice of him considering it was hot and humid. I'm sure he would have much rather been grilling out/drinkin beer on the 4th of July weekend.
I got off to a pretty bad start coming in like mid-pack into the woods. It wasn't that I couldn't handle the intensity of the start but there was very little room to maneuver before hitting the tight singletrack. The next two laps I was chasing down the other 5 women. James was giving me the time splits and I could see some of the women through the woods. With each lap I had cut down their lead. Eventually I caught Heather from Indiana at the last mile or two. I rode her wheel waiting for the right moment when she got some nasty chainsuck or something and I rode past her for 4th.
It was a good race for me. I was only a few minutes back on some pro women so I'm super psyched for the rest of the season.

DINO Muscatatuck AMBC

Well the DINO race is almost always muddy. I don't know why that is, it seems like for the past few years a T-Storm rolls in a few days before the race but it dries out just enough to be rideable yet still incredibly sloppy.
My husband James went with me to the race which was nice of him considering it was hot and humid. I'm sure he would have much rather been grilling out/drinkin beer on the 4th of July weekend.
I got off to a pretty bad start coming in like mid-pack into the woods. It wasn't that I couldn't handle the intensity of the start but there was very little room to maneuver before hitting the tight singletrack. The next two laps I was chasing down the other 5 women. James was giving me the time splits and I could see some of the women through the woods. With each lap I had cut down their lead. Eventually I caught Heather from Indiana at the last mile or two. I rode her wheel waiting for the right moment when she got some nasty chainsuck or something and I rode past her for 4th.
It was a good race for me. I was only a few minutes back on some pro women so I'm super psyched for the rest of the season.

Cycling Anniversary

I began running in the winter of 2006/2007 and during a vacation to the Smokey Mountains I realized I could ride again thanks to my newfound stamina and fitness. So I bought an old Nishiki ten-speed last June, got addicted to cycling and quickly upgraded to my Jamis road bike.

In the past year I have ridden 2, 838 miles, burned over 129,000 calories, dropped another 18 pounds and seen some cool things and have had some fun times with Bridget and others.