Bermuda was a great way to end the season with the Ford-Basis team. I had a great time boogy boarding, running, and hanging out at the beach with all the girls… oh yeah, and racing too!

Our host family was great. Thanks to the Ewles family for putting up with me, Nicole, and Eric during the race! We had a wonderful time and I look forward to coming back next year. Hopefully I’ll be able to talk my husband into coming also.

Here’s some results from the Bermuda Racin… and some pictures too… some racing and some just because.

Hood River, home of the Mt Hood Cycling Classic, was definitely one of the most beautiful areas I’ve ever been to in my life… and the bike race was great too!

The team rode great, we all finished in the top 10 and that really made a statement for our sponsors. The race had everything- a perfect prologue (short yet challenging), a long time trial, a technical and hilly crit, and two hard road races with TONS of climbing.

The last day was absolutely epic. We were to cover 75 miles with 3 climbs… each climb being over 10 miles a piece. Tough day, right? Well, throw in classic mountain weather and it becomes even tougher. On race day it was 40 degrees and raining at the start line, and it never let up. We were cold climbing!!! My feet were absolutely frozen, and I think I could feel my hands some of the time, but there’s no guarantee about that.

After the race, I gladly got some dry clothes on and enjoyed a crisp afternoon at the Mt Hood ski resort with my teammates. The race organizer did a fantastic job. There was a cookout catered at the finish line, and a nice big awards banner set up with some sample expo booths and great music where you could relax after the long race.

I wish I had taken more pictures when I was there. I only got a few shots of Mt Hood thru the windshield of our car on the way to the races. We were so busy racing, eating, and recovering for the next race that I hardly had a chance to really see the town. Here are the pictures I took from the race, if you’d like to see them.

Our host family for this race was awesome! They let us borrow equipment we didn‚Äôt have, like a trunk bike rack and a cooler, since our team vehicle didn’t come to the race. If it weren’t for them bailing us out constantly, we wouldn’t have been able to make it to the race starts… literally. We didn’t have enough room for us and our bikes to make it there! Thanks David and Sarah!!!

It was a long day of travel to Minnesota for the Nature Valley Grand Prix right after Mt Hood. I was so exhausted from the travel and racing that I was happy to take a day off the bike.

Nature Valley will be a tough race because all the strong women’s teams will be present since it is a part of the Women’s Prestige Cycling Series.

Ford-Basis ran a Women’s Cycling Clinic for Discover Bicycles before the Mt Hood Cycling Classic. We had a great turn out! After the 2 hour clinic, we went to a local Italian restaurant for an absolutely wonderful meal.

Nicole, Lauren, and I start the Raleigh Twilight Criterium. See more Raliegh Crit Pictures here.

I had a great time racing in my hometown! It was great seeing lots of familiar, friendly faces. Thanks for all the cheers and I look forward to racing the Raleigh Crit next year!

I’m lounging around in Little Rock, AR with my teammate Chrissy and our team mechanic Eric playing the ‘waiting game’ until my next race this weekend in Russelville, AR. Joe Martin just finished up, and Ford-Basis had an impressive showing the entire weekend. We walked away with 3rd overall and with a stage WIN! Way to go Ford-Basis!!!

Now we’re staying at our bike sponsor’s house (Javelin). It’s really cool to kick back and relax a few days before hitting it hard again this weekend for Tri Peaks. Scott and his wife, Amanda, are super nice and they have a really cute dog named Daisy. She’s a lot of fun to play with!

We’re going out for a shop ride tonight in Conway, I spose that’s a suburb of Little Rock. It should be fun meeting new people. I love going on bike shop rides just because of that… meeting new people and talking about cycling. It’s a lot of fun to ride with people that aren’t necessarily racers.

Tonight is an ice cream night… I’ve already decided. No one on my team has quite the sweet tooth I do, and for some reason I can’t get them to go out to get any frozen dessert. DANG! Amanda is going to make some banana pudding tonight… which Chrissy and Eric have NEVER had!!! What weirdo’s, they’re really missing out… banana pudding is SO good! And we’re having some vanilla ice cream too- even if I have to go out and buy it myself!

My teammates, Chrissy and Kele, working on their webpages at the Tour of the Gila. “DANG!”

Check out their sites at:

chrissyruiter.com
kelekele.net

Title reference to Napolean Dynamite– we enjoyed watching this movie countless times between stages. Okay, so maybe I’m a little behind the rest of America on pop culture… that’s what happens when you ride 25 hours a week and wake up in weird places that are not your own bed (airports, airplanes, where am I?, host housing in random states… you get the point).

Tour of the Gila proved again to be a tough race. I came down with a stomach bug after the TT and that made the race more interesting than last year. I actually threw up on the last climb on the last stage… let’s just say chocolate gu doesn’t sound “yummy” anymore.

I love New Mexico. We have our team training camp in Ruidoso, NM, and it’s really become a home away from home for me. I like the mountains and how quiet the area is. There’s hardly any traffic when you’re out riding, which is always nice. (hmm, come to think of it, there’s hardly any traffic when you’re driving too!)

The view from our host house in Silver City, NM

Ford-Basis had a good showing at the Gila-

Kele was 9th in the Time Trial, and Chrissy, Nicole, and I were all in the top 20.
I finished 4th in the crit after the team helped create a break.
Chrissy and Kele rocked the last day in an early breakaway. Chrissy held on to finish 4th in the stage and Kele and Nicole climbed strong to the finish.

I’m happy to say I finished the Tour of the Gila, slumped over my bike with aching stomach pains… but at least I finished!!!! See more pictures of our stay in Silver City, NM