Saturday I had my first foray into the ITU racing format at the USAT Elite National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Contrary to popular belief, Tuscaloosa is a cool town.  True to popular belief, swimming in the Black Warrior River is a little gross.

The race started out really well.  I dove off the pontoon and was right in the mix for the first 100m or so.  It was my first pontoon start and I had been really worried about goggle issues, but all my practice starts this past week paid off and I was totally fine.  I clung on to the back of the second pack and was really pumped to be where I was.  I hung on for a little bit (maybe another 150m) but then popped off the back and too far off to catch a draft.  I had a girl on my feet (!) and kept trying to surge up to latch onto the pack again, but couldn’t do it.  I knew it would make or break the race and I kept trying, digging really deep 2, 3, 4, probably 5 times, but never quite made it to the almost-free-ride-zone.  All the surging zapped me, and soon the girl on my feet pulled around me and I couldn’t even catch her draft.  So I went the remaining 800m alone.

I'm in the middle, you can see my black suit. This is shortly after the start. Conquer fear of diving with goggles on: check.

All alone. =(

The current made this especially tricky, as it was very hard to round the buoys.  I had to sight upstream to  line up with the buoy straight ahead.  Though everyone swam much slower than normal, it was less of an issue for the stronger swimmers and contributed to the really wide gap between me, all the way in the back, and everyone else.  I was last out of the water by quite a ways…probably over a minute.

I hauled on the run up to transition and tried to get out fast on the bike in hopes that someone was straggling.  The first lap of the bike felt awful and I was down about the swim, but the second lap I got my head into it and started to think that I could make it to the run.  Michelle and Beth were at the top of the first climb and they pumped me up everytime I went around.  When their support wore off Sonja and Tyler were at the bottom of the second climb and they carried me around until I saw them again on my return trip.  Bethany and her family were near transition and I could hear them yelling too.  I put some good laps together and noticed that the chase pack of 6 was holding about the same pace as I was all on my own.  That got me more excited and I thought I was in the clear!  I caught one girl and rode with her briefly before continuing on my own.  Then it happened.  2 packs combined at the front of the race, creating a pack of 6.  I felt like I was being chased by a freight train.  They were coming fast, but I only had a mile to go before I would be safe, they would be done with the bike and I would continue on my 6th lap, free.  I thought I could make it.  I whizzed through the 180′ turn, knowing packs move slower through those, but it wasn’t enough.  Just as I was about to pass by Sonja and Tyler they gobbled me up.  The official came on the motorcycle and took my chip.

It was nice having Sonja and Tyler right there, I didn’t even have a chance to sulk or get down, they made me feel like a champ — thanks so much for being there (literally).

As much as I was disappointed to not have finished the race, I’m really not down about it.  I think it’s mainly because I gave everything I had, and really don’t have any regrets.  I can’t think “I should have gone with that pack” because I honestly tried as hard as I could to, and couldn’t do it.  There was no mental blockage, I was just totally spent.  It’s left me really excited to work on my swim over the winter, and even more excited to race in a few weeks at Pacific Grove.  I’m not that far off, I know I can get there.  At this race last year I watched the women’s pro start with Sean and he said, “Next year that’ll be you.” and I thought he was insane.  But I got to the start.  Next year I’ll get to the finish.

Annnd…the highlight of the day, a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO BETHANY!!!!  5th place OVERALL yesterday morning, she’s got her pro card!!! =)

It’s pretty amazing where you can start at the beginning of the creative process and where you can end up.  I’ve been working on our new website’s image and branding since February and it’s fun to look back and see what I originally planned for it.  Since I haven’t posted about anything work-related in a long time I figured it would be fun to take you through the steps of launching Powder7.com, not only the website, but all of the branding and imagery that goes into it.  Though this blog doesn’t reflect it often enough, there’s way more to me than running/biking/swimming/talking about my dog.

So, here is installment one in a series of building the brand.  Enjoy!

Before you can have a logo, you have to have a brand.  Jordan and I spent many winter weekends cozied up in the Windy Saddle, our brains brewing with all sorts of ideas.  I filled pages and pages of my notebook with every word that reminded me of skiing, no matter how obscure.

My notebook, filled with all things skiing related as well as winter animals and snowy adjectives.

Eventually we settled on Powder7.com, and secured the domain name.  Then I moved forward with creating a logo.  I came up with some stuff on my own before consulting with some trusty resources.  I wanted to play off the symmetry of the ‘P’ and ‘7′ and also build up the snow theme.

Some very random 'doodles' were followed by some more focus with the P7 outlines and snowflakes, both of which I was very keen on.

I emailed my favorite rough sketches to my brother, Tim, and sister-in-law, India.  India responded with a cell phone photo of a doodle on a napkin, where all brilliant business ideas are born!

India's sketch.

Another variation.

Immediately I knew we had our logo.  Turning the ‘7′ into the mountain - brilliant!  Tim didn’t even get a chance to send his submission in…next time!

I got to work on sprucing up India’s idea and turning it into vector artwork.

One of my first digital versions of the final logo.

At first I used gradients for the mountains, fading to a whitish, snowy peak.  Then I thought the better of it, realizing this would be a big pain to always maintain this exact gradient and really limit reproducing it in other colors.  So I opted for a solid color and changed up the font and word placement.  I also put a cross in the ‘7′ that India initially had.  It adds a little more dimension to the ‘mountain’ and makes it more recognizable as a 7.

The slightly edgier and cleaner final product.

Next up: Part II - Building the Website

Yesterday I went out to the Aurora Res to race in the Rattlesnake Olympic distance.  This year they had a pro prize purse and the women’s field was STACKED: Susan Williams, and…… me.  It was pretty cool to line up with Susan, I was definitely a bit in awe.  Only in Colorado and only in triathlon can you race a local race with an Olympic medalist.  Not surprisingly, Susan absolutely crushed me from the gun.  The only reason I saw her at all in the race was because there are 3 out and back sections.  She offered nothing but encouragement after the race which was really cool coming from her.

As for the race itself, I had a pretty hurting day.  It was one of those days where nothing seems to click and the fun-factor was pretty much nonexistant.  But, as Sean and Jordan were quick to point out, feeling crappy this week is a good thing because now it’s out of my system for next week!  Well obviously =)

Beth was there getting lots of good pics of the Riptide representation, and Dan (her husband) took home the big WIN!   Some photos courtesy of her:

Once past the frenzy of backstrokers, the swim was actually ok. Water out there in the plains is cold! 67'

Normally not a fan of cheerleading in general, but those little girls did make me feel pretty special. Thanks!

It's convenient when a grimace can double as a smile for photos.

So now that I’ve gotten all the cobwebs out and busted the rust, I’m getting ready for the big one next weekend!  Not gonna lie, I have mixed feelings about next weekend.  I go from really excited to “what the hell am I doing??” usually a few times per day.  Deep down though, I know it will be fine…it’s all about getting the experience in at this point, and obviously seeing the tourist hotbed that is Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

I ran from the law.

I’m telling you this in confidence, so please don’t turn me in, ok?  Thanks.

Jordan and I went out this morning to explore a new ride he had dreamed up.  We climbed up Golden Gate Canyon, but instead of the usual ride to Golden Gate State Park, we took a right up Robinson Hill Road.  It climbed for a bit, then turned to dirt.  Somewhere in between we managed to make an accidental left turn.

We probably didn’t notice because it was beautiful up there and I was looking left and right and everywhere except for where I was actually going.

Rural?

All farms and wide open spaces complete with a perfect red barn.

We climbed a bit more on the dirt before descending for a very long time down a very steep and very windy dirt road.

What goes up must...

go down and down and down and down.

All the while I am blindly following Jordan.  He and Dan explored up to the dirt road a couple of weeks ago and upon returning home, Jordan checked out Google Maps and realized it was a loop.  Only one problem:  The road we were on did not loop.

Once we were almost to the bottom Jordan stopped ahead of me….this doesn’t look right.  We look over the side of the road and down below is is where 119 (Peak To Peak) meets 6.  Ya see, the funny thing about this part of 6 is…NO BIKES ALLOWED.  To climb up from where we came from is out of the question.  The dirt is really loose and I honestly don’t know if it’s even possible.  We could head north on Peak to Peak and go back into Golden Gate State Park and do a huge loop back to Golden Gate Canyon, but then we’re looking at a 5+ hour ride.  Neither of us are prepared for such an endeavor, in terms of nutrition, training plans, and the fact that we need to get to work sometime soon.

The "Oh sh!t." moment.

Luckily we had cell coverage, though it didn’t really change anything.  As we descended the rest of the way down to the highway we mulled over our options.  Feasible options included: climbing up to 70 and riding along that until we reached the exit for Lookout…this would involve a large climb and didn’t appeal much at all to either of us.  We could hitch-hike down 6.  I liked this for the bad-ass factor, but didn’t like it because my mom would kill me.  Or, we could ride like hell down 6 illegally and hope the po-po didn’t see us.

We chose door #3 and rode like the wind!

The Smokey and the Bandit theme song had been playing in my head for about 3 minutes when we spotted a state trooper driving the opposite direction.  Ugghhh.  Good thing we had concocted a cover story before we got rolling!  We waited and waited for the trooper to come after us, even thought about hiding out in the bushes for a bit, but he never came.  Phew!

Then came the tunnels.  Thankfully, there was very little traffic so we never encountered any cars while inside the mountains.

Blurry cuz we're going THAT FAST! ...and I'm taking pics while doing so.

At long last we rolled into Golden, back into legal territory.

We made it =) (though failed at the attempt to get a victory shot of the two of us)

We have a long way to go,

and a short time to get there,

we have to do what they say can’t be done..

Note: Obviously we broke some big cycling ethics rules today, but please don’t get all uppity.  Someday when you’re in a bind you’ll do what you have to do.

Heading home from Bear Creek, dreaming of the pancake breakfast that awaits.

This morning Bethany, Dan, Jordan, and I headed out to Bear Creek at the crack of dawn 7:30 with our trusty TT  bikes.  On tap was Jordan’s favorite 6×5:00 with 5:00 in between.  Everyone starts with a handicap, so you’re always hunting/chasing so there’s no getting lazy.  I hate these things!  …in a good way.  5 minutes is just long enough to hurt really badly and 5 minutes rest is just short enough to go by way too quickly.

Last time it was just Jordan and me, so having 4 of out there today made it much more fun.  I couldn’t really appreciate the funness though until it was over.  I was totally knackered the next day!

Having Bethany out here for another training camp is probably the best thing to happen since stumbling upon my new pancake recipe.  Obviously the training is awesome, but she also waters my neighbor’s flowers when I forget and leave them to die.  And she cooks a mean chicken and rice casserole and stuffs us full of brownies.  Stephen better be careful…we might hold her for ransom =)

Watch out Tuscaloosa! BH has a TT bike!

WARNING: this is long.

Friday Jordan and I headed down to Salida for the Salida Omnium, a 3 day bike race featuring a time trial on Friday, road race on Saturday, and criterium on Sunday.  I had never done a bike race before, so jumping headlong into a 3 day event struck me as a really smart idea.

We checked in about an hour before the time trial (TT).  Since Jordan went 3 hours after me he went and secured a sweet camping spot while I warmed-up/meandered to the starting line.

All the Cat 4 women were lined up in alphabetical order, putting me in third.  We started in 30 second increments.  I got in trouble for my numbers a couple of minutes before I started and random people around me rushed to shove pins through my Rocket Science racesuit that I had so carefully avoided wounding (turned out ok though).  When it was my turn to go a guy held my bike up and I carefully balanced on the pedals trying to figure out the best position to start in.  I was sure I would topple to the ground the second the starter said “go!” and the man supporting me let go.  Luckily, I made it off the line without splattering onto the ground.  I went out really hard.  Probably too hard, but I really wanted to catch the two girls ahead of me before the turn-around.  Got one about 1.5 miles in and the other right before the turn-around at 4 miles.  Then, the gorilla hopped on my back for the rest of the ride and we crossed the 8-mile mark in 19:40.  8 miles isn’t long, but it was definitely not easy!  The course was only flat for a little ways, with a slight climb almost the whole way out and a steeper section to finish with.  I rode Jordan’s TT bike and since I’m not used to the aerobars managed to repeatedly bang my knees against the arm pads (or whatever they are called…how about “elbow holders”?), leaving me with bumps the size of bouncy balls on both knees the rest of the night.  They turned a beautiful color purple.

Near the end of the TT.

My 19:40 was good enough for 3rd and Jordan brought it home in 16:53, winning the Cat 4 mens race.  I think he had an advantage starting mid-alphabet, but he says “it doesn’t matter, that’s the point of a TT!” =)

Jordan looking super-aero. I give myself an A+ for this foto =)

Saturday morning I braced myself for the 36-mile road race and met up with Bethany a little before noon in downtown Salida.  Naturally, we had some bike issues that left us dashing to the starting line with seconds to spare.  Maybe we didn’t get in a real warm-up, but at least our heart rates were up!

We had a 6 mile neutral roll-out to the race start.  In case you’re like I was on Saturday and have no idea what this means, you just ride casually to the start as a group behind a lead car.  There’s no jockeying for position or anything because it doesn’t matter since you come to a stop at the real start for awhile anyway.  When we finally started for real, I made sure to position myself toward the front of the pack so I would be in a good position for the climb.  The climb has a 1300 foot vertical and it is steep for a nice bit.  Since it’s a private road it was impossible to see the climb before the start.  Me and a couple other girls were up front and the rest of the pack was chit chatting.  Tea and crumpets may or may not have been served.  With each passing second I grew more and more froggy and couldn’t wait for the climb to finally come.  When it did, I went all out.  And the climb kept going.  And going.  Then it “flattened” but kept climbing.  Yasmine, who won the TT the previous day, and who was up front with me from the beginning of the race, totally hammered the climb and was out of sight.  At the top I could see another woman up ahead and I finally caught up with her at the bottom of the descent.  Anne and I worked together for the rest of the race, she was another really strong climber and would always pull ahead for the looooong climb.  She provided encouragement and pointers, both of which were very much appreciated.  When I said, “It seems like you’ve been doing this awhile..” She responded, “20 years honey!”  At first I thought holy crap, but then I realized that I’ve been riding a bike for 20 years too, 19 without training wheels =)

Up the climb 2 more times for a grand total of 3900ft of vertical gain and I finished up in 2nd.  Yasmine was first, and though Anne was ahead of me, she wasn’t in my Category (even though she started with me, which is why it was fine for us to ride together.  She was in the 35+ division, I think)   What a painful, awful event!  But I mean that in the best way possible.  It was one of the most well run events I’ve ever done, the race director was very on the ball and it was unreal to have 1/2 the course completely closed to cars.  And at the top (we finished at the top, obviously) they were grilling up burgers!!  I gobbled it up, washed it down with a Dr. Pepper, and wished I had $5 for another.

Jordan leading the way in the crit. Notice he has number issues too!

Day 3!  I was definitely most nervous for Sunday’s crit.  At Interbike last year I watched the crit race held in the Mandalay Bay parking lot and it was a demolition derby with bikes.  On my way to the race I stopped off and bought a pair of cycling gloves, I figured the odds were I would need them.  Jordan and I both heeded the advice from our campsite neighbor who was a Cat 2 cyclist and really knew his stuff.  He suggested we start in the very back, get a feel for the race, and work our way up.  Again on the line there was something wrong with my numbers and some kind stranger had to come running out to help me get my number the right way up and “out of my armpit”.  The referee loved me!!  Rolling off the line I stayed put in the back, watching it unfold and learning quickly who would go and who wouldn’t.  I gradually made my way up to the front group of 7 or so and we broke away from the rest.  Work was not being distributed evenly, so we spent some time shaking off the freeloaders and wittled it down to me, Yasmine, and another woman.  The three of us made a big break and started rolling and put some serious time on the chase pack of 8.  It was definitely a best-case scenario.  We all worked, we all communicated, and we stayed together.  On the last lap I tried to open a lead on the gradual uphill on the back straightaway because I knew I don’t have a good sprint, especially downhill (the finish was on a slight downhill).  I couldn’t pull away though and we rounded the final corner together, me first.  I tried my best to hold off Yasmine, but she can sprint like crazy and blew by me.  I ended up 2nd, totally stoked that my first crit had gone so well.  I felt so prepared for it from the work I’ve put in with the team at crit loop practices.  The figure-8 course definitely played to my advantage as there was tons of cornering, which I’m realizing is my forte.  As for the demolition derby?  Crit racing is actually a lot more like an F1 race.

On the homestretch on one of the last laps. I'm in the middle, representing Team Crailsheim since we don't have Riptide kits yet ;-)

All in all a great weekend of racing that left me totally wiped out on Monday!  I ended up 2nd in the GC for Cat 4 women, and now I am tempted to race some more!  I’m very glad that Jordan talked me into doing all 3, it helps to know that my cycling isn’t totally hopeless going into Tuscaloosa.  Now if I could just shave a few minutes off my swim…