In an hour or so we’ll be on the open road making our way to New Jersey. The US Gran Prix Mercer Cup races are this weekend. Fun stuff. Not only is the racing excellent but the whole spectacle is kind of cool. Typically there is a decent expo to wander around in and spend some dollars at.

We are pretty much good to go. I’ve got all the food sorted out – made a serious chili for this weekend complete with some salsa rice. In fact I think I’ve got enough food to feed a small bike racing team! This always happen – I tell myself to prepare less food and to pack less – but I always end up with the same amount! The race bags are packed. The green bag (street clothes) is packed. The mini-van is loaded up with shiny bikes and wheels. Sweet.

Went to The Cyclery yesterday and picked up my new lid. Dudes, it is sexy. Black, white and red Giro Monza. Thanks Vince – you rock! It is going to look pretty fast with my kit. Remember the motto: if you can’t be fast – at least look good. Well, I’m aiming for both ends of said motto.

The Europe race calendar is nearly complete. Debating World Cups right now. There are four World Cups scheduled while I’m away. I had planned on doing Zolder only. But Marc thinks I should race at Roubaix and Nommay as well. I don’t know. I can race “locally” on those days instead – saving money and not traveling. But World Cups are big races so the more experience at the big races the better. Don’t know – need to decide quick so I can get myself organized, registered, and on all the lists. What do you think? Some of you are very experienced racers – what would you do?

Looks like it will be wet this weekend. Fine for racing. Not so fine for spectating and working the pit. Good thing I’ve got my handy waterproof fleece lined pants. These keep my super toasty while standing around yelling at people to pedal faster and to dig deep.

Me, I’m all about aggression this weekend. Aggressive on the line. Aggressive in the corners. Aggressive with the course. Aggressive with the bike. Aggressive mentality. Don’t worry I’m not going to turn the elite women’s race into a UFC fight or anything like that. Rather aggression is my “catch-phrase” for the weekend. It reminds me to race like I can and need to – to get where I want to be.

Yikes the time is speeding away. I have to go. Safe travels. Hopefully I’ll see you in New Jersey this weekend. I’ll be trying to stay away from Whole Foods. Don’t get me wrong – I love that grocery store. But it is like a vortex – 20 minutes turns into an hour and 3 items on the shopping list turn into 17 items…

Check out this video of the Magog, Quebec ‘cross race.

Check out the latest article from Canadian cyclist Michael Barry in the New York Times: Pushing the Limit – Bloody, Muddy Courses and Air Horns.

This article did not make it to the fake New York Times that was handed out all over New York city yesterday.

Oh yeah baby, today was all about the sweet spot… As in sweet spot tempo intervals. This morning I was on the trainer at the crack of dawn pounding out the wattage. 3 x 12 minutes with accelerations every 3 minutes. Yes, my legs were kicking and screaming. I blocked out the leg tantrums and kept on drilling it. Telling myself this is good, you are going so hard, harder than ever, remember these sensations on the weekend. Amazing how quickly the time passed when my brain was not thinking about pain but rather thinking about the pay-off.

It wasn’t my choice to be on the trainer. But it is pretty frosty up here now, not good for doing intervals outside. I get chilled really easily and the last thing I needed or wanted was to be cold, sweaty, and 45 minutes from home. So it was an excellent ride. Watched last week’s episode of Grey’s and Law and Order. So it was doubly sweet – hard work-out and guilt-free television watching.

Unfortunately, no ‘cross practice for me tonight. I’m super busy at work and something has to give. It is a drag. But this is reality.

Just had a look at the pre-registration list for the USGP in New Jersey this weekend. Wow – talk about deep field. 42 women on Saturday and 40 on Sunday. I’m stoked. The better and stronger the field, the better and stronger I’ll be. I’m determined to not let the mistakes of the past haunt me this weekend. Funny, last night we were out with a good pal of ours and he was asking about our races in Toronto last weekend. I told him about my ride on Sunday and how I kept on getting faster and faster as the race went on. I couldn’t really explain why I couldn’t/wouldn’t go all out from the gun. Marc summed it up “You have to want it”.

Yep, therein lies another one of my problems right now. I had a super big goal this season. I didn’t make it – after my third race of the season. I set new goals. But somehow they don’t mean as much to me as the goal of racing in the World Champs did. Well, really this is all up to me. I’ve got to get my brain on straight and start wanting and riding like I want it. This is the weekend.

I just read Kathy’s race report from Plymouth. Wow – she has got me so fired up. Her race on Sunday was most impressive. I love the self-talk she used to motivate herself. Inspiring.

Okay, I best be off. The clock is ticking (still haven’t figured out how to make time stand still) and I’ve got lots on my “to do” list this afternoon. The perfect ending to this fine Wednesday will be the hour I spend in my hot power yoga class. (So long as we don’t do too many handstands – not a fan of being upside down.) Have a good one.

Not the best title to a blog post. But I really couldn’t come up with much else. Sorry.

So my post about excuses is getting a lot of traffic and generating some interesting feedback. Nice to know I’m not the only one who feels this way. As I was out riding in the snow today I thought more about the excusegame. The thing is – we choose to ride and race our bikes. No one makes us. The majority of us (particularly those of us living in North America), are well-educated and have decent if not good jobs. We really do this for fun. Yes, we’re serious about it – but really it is about the fun and community. Really, why else would I put on a thin spandex suit and race around in the mud and rain?

Okay, herein ends the excusegame rant. I know I typed something similar yesterday…

Got out for a smooth if somewhat chilly ride today. 90 minutes of recovery. The wind was wicked. Thank goodness for my compact crank. I really didn’t notice the cold (yes I was overdressed). It was kind of peaceful to be out there with empty roads, the rustling tree branches, and the whirring of the bike.

I’m working on getting my European race calendar finalized. Hoping to get it sorted tonight – then I’ll update the race calendar. All I can say at this point – is there is a lot of race action going on. I’ll be racing everything – UCI elite women’s races, junior boy’s races, masters men’s races, and a World Cup.
Basically, if there is a race – I’m doing it. The premise is that this will help me/force me to learn. Don’t know if you’ve ever raced ‘cross in Europe, but it really is “sink or swim”. Gotta learn the hard lessons fast – otherwise each race becomes rather miserable. I learned a lot last year and want to learn just as much (if not more) this time around. The highlight of the trip will be watching Marc race in the Master’s World Cyclo-Cross Championships in Mol, Belgium. It will be strange being there and not being able to race (can’t race if you have UCI points). Oh well, I can relax and support Marc (this means yell my lungs out as he pedals by and make him some super tasty nutella sandwiches for his pre-race meal).

Along with racing ‘cross, I’ll be hooking up with the coach of the Belgian junior team for weekly ‘cross practice. I trained with these guys last year and it was awesome. Hard. Fast. Friendly. Just what I needed – nice way to break up the week of training, racing and recovery. I’ll also be putting in lots of road miles – the Tuesday and Thursday group rides are a lot of fun – never know who you’ll get as a riding partner (once I rode with Neils Albert – he is super friendly and yes – he is as cute in person as he looks in the photos…).

Getting my SRM moved over to my spare bike. So this means the Isaac will be put away and I’ll be spending all my time riding my ‘cross bikes. I don’t know if I’ll record any race data with the SRM (the data would be very useful to see) – depends on what my chief pit man (Marc) suggests on this. But, it will be perfect to have my SRM while in Belgium and out training on the road. I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at judging my exertion level – my legs are either feeling super comfortable or burning up with fire…

I noticed there are more photos from the weekend racing action posted on Canadian Cyclist. I’ve also heard and read some grumbling about the races this past weekend. This is a tough thing. Yes, it is good to be vocal, but there is a balance here. Keep this in mind please. Constructive is the only way to go.

Onto New Jersey. I’m looking to improve on my result at these races last year. Last year my race goal was simple – don’t get lapped by Georgia Gould. (My favorite American racer, by the way.) This year, I’ve set my eyes a bit higher – a top 15 would be amazing and awesome. This is my goal. We’ll see what happens. I can only control my performance. To achieve this goal, I need to stay focused on my big lesson from the Toronto weekend: aggression.

Or maybe this should be titled – The Mindgame? Or how about – The Excusegame?

So as you probably know I’m home from a weekend of ‘cross racing in Toronto. Some decent fields out for the M1, elite women’s and elite men’s fields. Cool. Just what us bike racers want – lots of tough competition. The deeper the field, the better I feel about my result. Sure it is nice to get a “top result” but this for me feels somewhat diluted when the depth of field really isn’t there. My 11th place results this year feel much better than the 7th and 9th place results I had at these races last year.

Okay, so why The Excusegame? Well it seems to me that if you ever want to hear a list of excuses as to why you competitors aren’t going so well, simply sign up for a bike race. I’ve never heard so many excuses for why people didn’t get the results they expected this weekend. I might sound a bit callous here, but common people – everyone has stuff going on in their lives. No one is living the “ideal bike racer” life. The bulk of us work full-time, juggle family life, and race our bike at the elite level every weekend. It is a small margin that are actual “pros” – getting paid to race their bikes and train.

This weekend I was treated to a litany of excuses for poor results – a lot of times before the race had even started. I was so tempted to speak my mind. But I’m polite and I don’t want to come off as sounding rude and unfeeling. But if I hear one more person tell me how hard it is to work, train, travel, and race, I’m going to vomit in my mouth. (Yikes that is harsh – but this is how I feel.)

Maybe next time, I’ll whip out some excuses of my own. How about: hmm, I started racing my bike three years ago and as a Masters racer (now I race elite), I work 50 plus hours a week (usually M – Th because we are driving on Fridays), I’ve had four herniated discs, I’ve dropped 20 lbs this past season, oh and my knee is still quite sore. Do you think these are valid excuses? How about adding in – this year my cat died very suddenly, I was run off the road by an eighteen-wheeler, and my iron levels are really low.

I know this is stretching things a bit – but this is how I feel when I hear people rhyming off all the reasons why they didn’t do as well as they think they should. Really, people – are you a bike racer? Yes – okay then get on your bike and race. Stop talking and get pedaling. Everyone has crap going on. No one – not even the pros have it easy. Just be thankful that you can travel all around North America and Europe to race your bike. Lots of people out there would love to do what you’re doing. Get over yourself and think about your situation. I mean really think about your situation and how good you have it.

(Okay this ends the rant. Sorry for the negativity – I really try not to be negative on this site, but sometimes I need to let it all out.)

Check out the photos page. I posted a bunch of links to photos from the racing action this weekend. If you have pics from the Toronto races – send me an email – I’ll post a link to your site. Thanks to all the photographers out there. Along with the fantastic cheering, the photos help a lot as well.

On deck for today – recovery. Sweet sweet recovery. 90 minutes of rolling, pedaling, and listening to my iPod. The weather is decent – dry, sunny, light wind. Perfect for a spin. Tonight I’ll round things off with a solid hot power yoga session.

This weekend we’re racing in New Jersey. Cool. Talk about deep field. It will be a tough one. I’ve got lots of little changes I want to make to my racing this weekend. I think they can pretty much be summed up with one word: aggression. Better start. Attacking the course all the time. Fighting for lines. Drilling the legs and lungs. Looking ahead on the course. Turning the legs over faster – no more grinding. Stoked to race.