Getting better at taking pics while riding... I'll be as good as beth someday.
We rode to my homeland yesterday. It was good to see my peeps.

Updates from San Marco, CA.
Kate's house is awesome and her family is super cool. It feels like home here.. I wonder if they'll let me stay.
This is Rudy, protector of the house, who kept me trapped up stairs the first morning I was here... no one was up and he didn't want to let me downstairs, so I just went back to bed. We're bonding now though.
Beach ride with Kate.... wish you were here.
Hot tubbin' with the Gracheck's....
Watching surfers with Kate's mom in the morning.... I'm sad I'm leaving CA in just 4 days.

Since I've got nothing funny to report today, you're going to have to read Beth's update from the race on Sunday. I warn you, it's real funny. Well, maybe it's real funny if you were there.

So I'm staying with my friend Kate this week. Her parents just moved to the San Diego area. Kate's new house has everything, a pool, a hot tub, wireless internet, a sweet view from the back yard...
...and you can even see the ocean from my bedroom (if you squint real hard).
After dinner Kate was doing some crazy new neck therapy. I'm not really sure what this does, but Kate seems to enjoy it.

Redlands Race Report: Stage 3, Sunset Road Race
So this is kind of what I felt like today. It's funny the Sunset Loop race is usually so hard because it comes at the end of 4 or 5 days of racing. This year Redlands was only 3 days and with only a crit and TT before Sunset, it still felt just as hard. We all did pretty well today, we all suffered but made it through, and the best part is we all moved up in GC today. So eventhough I felt like a snail out there, I think everyone else did too.

The best part of the Sunset race is the fun downhills and technical turns. Here are the men going through it much faster than I was today. It's probably the most fun road course I'll do each year. It's like a big criterium on crack.


We all went out to dinner after the race and stopped by this weird erotic...I mean exotic... reptile store. Beth thought it was the aces, but Pam and I had to leave. I was getting the willies looking at all those snakes.... check Beth's blog for more pics because I heard she took a lot.

Redlands Race Report: Stage 2 criterium.
This morning before the race Carmen and I went down to preview the course. We thought we'd try to get in to the kids race, but no dice. We figured it'd be a bit easier to handle than the 60 minutes of suffering we were likely to get in the afternoon.
And we did get just about 60 minutes of suffering.... actually we got about 55 minutes of suffering and then WHAMMY the whole VC team goes down with 3 to go. Actually it wasn't all of us, but it was half the team. So coming through the start finish with 3 to go some girl slams in to the barriers on the home straight, takes herself out, takes Sharon out, and then Beth crashes in to Sharon, and then I crashed in to Beth. So unfortuately we all lost time to the finish because it was under 5 laps to go so no more free laps, but not close enough to the finish to come under the 3k to go.
Unfortunately because we all landed on Sharon she got the worst of it. She got some bad bumps and bruises and some good road rash on the face which is never, ever fun. I got the least of it and didn't even go to medical. All I did was put this tiny tear in my shorts... I guess it is a good thing that we didn't get our new kits yet, especially since the Hammer was borrowing one of my jerseys today and bled all over it.

Someone's ready to race! Today was the TT at Redlands.

Here's me in my retro TT helmet and crashed on skinsuit....still waiting for our new clothes.

So all of us on the team finished the TT really close to eachother in time, although not like this on the course. This is us previewing the course yesterday.

After the TT, we all piled in the car to go get coffee and internet. We don't have internet at the host house which is a real drag.

And I just had to include this pic of Carmen and her travel toothbrush.

Today I went out for a ride with one of my clients who lives pretty close to Redlands. He was nice enough to go out with me and preview some of the courses. We rode the Sunset loop.

Then we checked out the TT course... we have to climb up that in the TT. Which it doesn't look that steep from this angle.

So this is what it looks like going down. As luck would have it it's about 2 minutes for the main part of the hill so I did my intervals on it today, although I'll tell you that hill's a little too tough for those intervals I was doing. With my heart rate at 200, cadence at about 40, and speed down to 6mph, I'm wishing I had a triple for this sucker.

California, I repeat, California NOT Colorado this morning. I'm only about 30 minutes from Redlands in Crestline, but it looks like this outside today. I was going to go down the hill to ride in Redlands today, but I don't think I'll make it. Heck, school's even cancelled today. Does that mean I get the day off work too?

San Dimas Race Report: Stage 3, death crit

What was that about? A flippin' crit in the rain! As luck would have it, it started raining about 3 laps in to our race. That meant all the fast girls thought it'd be a good idea to crank up the pace just to make things more exciting. In fact the break got off just about as soon as the roads got wet because they were really pushing it on the wet roads in the beginning. I was tailgunning again today. I kept thinking I was moving up but I wasn't. The people behind me just kept dropping off. In the end it was another bone-head move letting a gap open on the last lap and losing big time. That's so fustrating because you're only a few seconds behind the girl in front of you but you lose 20-30 seconds because the time is taken and the front of the lead pack (not from the wheel in front of you). So in the end my inattention at the end of yesterday's and today's stages cost me 10 places on GC. I'm pretty fustrated with myself right now and the way I executed the finishes... so we're not going to talk about racing any more today.
The only ray of sunshine today was running in to Jake. I like Jake, Jake's my boy! Unfortunately, Jake had just about as lousy a day as I did in the Pro Men's race. He's been sick though, at least he's got an excuse.

Jake's a CTS coach too, and so are Kelly and Kate. So with running in to TJ and Babbs (Rick Babbington) it's like CTS coaching-o-rama at the San Dimas race.

In the end I was so bummed about the races I had to drown my sorrows in cheesburgers and fries. Probably not a good idea as I'm still going to have to haul my gargantuan carcas up some big hills at Redlands in a few days. Oh well, screw it!

San Dimas Race Report, Stage 2 Bonelli Park Road Race

Today was an early start, we started at 8am, so that meant leaving the house at the crack of really early in the morning. Here's Meggan pictured with the latest in mountain biker fashion as she is getting her oats ready in the morning.

As for the race, we totally lucked out with the weather and the rain forecasted didn't start until after we were done. My day wasn't really good and wasn't really bad. I tried my hand a few times with a few sparky like attacks and burned up a few matches in the process. The worst of the day was I let a gap open up on the run in to the finish, so I lost some time right at the end. I don't know how much time because results aren't up yet. Hopefully I didn't lose any GC spots with that lame finish.

I may have not told anyone to get anything today but Emmett sure did. On lap 4 as I was just trying to survive up the KOM hill I look up to see Emmett drilling it at the front of the pack. I said to myself, "oh, this is going to reall hurt..." Yup, that was the hardest lap, but that's all it took for the break. They stayed away all day, but it's not like they needed to because it was all the top GC riders anyway. Emmett did well to move up though because she was the lowest on GC in the break.

Meggan's husband Stephen came to watch the races and got to witness up close some cool cat 4 crashing. Here's the blood on his shoe as a result of the cat 4 carnage.

San Dimas Race Report: Stage 1, Glendora Mountain TT

Today was the first stage of San Dimas, a 4-mile uphill TT. It was a good day for me, I caught Kellie Emmett... while we were warming up before the race start. It's always nice to see Kellie, she just came out from the Springs this week.

My race went pretty well, I have to say. I had a good spin this morning, then I had a good warm up, then low and behold, I had a pretty good race. I caught 3 people and didn't get caught by anyone so that's always a good sign, and ended up in the top 20 which the goal. Of course, once you get done it's always would have, could have, should have gone harder for those few more seconds. I doubt I had much more to give as the drool and wheazing factors were at maximum for the last couple of kilometers. The only negative of the race was that it started raining about 20 minutes before the start.
See my goosebumps when I got back to the car. It was wicked frickin cold on the way down. I was shivvering so bad I could barely control the bike.
I also got to see TJ today, yet one more of my former roomates. He's out from Michigan doing some training and getting ready to tear it up on the pro mtn biking scene this year.

The worst part of the day was the drive back to Pasadena on the 210. It's ony 15 miles but it took about 45 minutes which was a real drag.

Ahhh, San Dimas. Drink it in, it always goes down smooth... unless you're choking on all the polution in the air or stuck in traffic on the 210.

"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right." - Henry Ford

Today I went out to pre-ride the courses for this weekend's race. The TT is a 4 mile climb, but it's a lot like Gold Camp, so it's not too steep. In the process of psyching myself up I had to obsess about who was on the start list . I only allowed myself about 10 minutes of that, then I had to put it away. It doesn't really matter who shows up, there are always fast girls at any race worth going to. That's why I'm here. Now I'm just working on visualizing myself hanging on The Hammer's wheel whilst flying up the mountain.

I also did some loops on the road race course. Nothing too hard, just one power hill for the KOM. The hill happens to be just 2 minutes long, which was perfect for the intervals I had to do today. During my intervals I started by visualizing myself laying down the stick and saying "come on Kristen Armstrong, get some of this!". Then after a few times I regressed to thinking "I wonder if this is what it's going to feel like when I'm hanging on for dear life up this hill." In the end I realized that any crazy ideas I have for attacking during this race I should just put to bed right now. By the last repeat my legs were starting to hurt and I was really starting to slow down. So given that I only did it 5 times today and we have to do it NINE times on Saturday, I think I'll keep my ants in my pants and just work on getting up it unscathed all nine times.

Ahhh, peaceful Pasadena. I'm staying in Pasadena all week with my friend Meggan. She keeps telling me there's a ghetto in Pasadena, but all I see is peacful neighborhoods.
Meggan dragged me around the Rose Bowl a few times today. I'm making her do San Dimas this week so she's have to give up the big knobbies for the skinny tires but I don't think she's going to give up the visor on the helmet, black socks, or full-fingered gloves just to do a stinkin' road race. It should be good though, I know the 4's love it when the pro mountain bikers come to play in their races.

The next generation of Eastman (Pullems) is being groomed for athletic greatness. As Jordi has learned to ride her tricycle all by herself, we're putting her down as an alternate for the Redlands roster this year. Do you think I can get one of those big handles on the back of my bike so that someone can push me up the hills?

Dominguez Hills Crit Race Report

I think this is technically what they call living out of your car. Today I left Santa Barbara and stopped in LA to do a local crit on my way over to Pasadena.

Today's race went much better than last week... of course there weren't a hundred pro women in the field either so it was a much easier pace. Today I was feeling much more sparky like than last week, but I had to promise myself I wasn't going to sprint from the gun, and I didn't. I did really well with that, I didn't attack on lap 1, and I didn't attack on lap two. I told myself I had to wait at least 10 minutes in to the race before I could launch an attack. I felt like I was being so patient, but the first time I attacked I looked down at my clock, and it was only 4.5 minutes in to the race. Damn! I'm so impatient. So I kept on with my antics most of the day but never got anywhere. In the end one girl slipped off the front with 5 to go. I refused to chase since I had chased down every other break, so she stayed off. I ended up 3rd, 2nd in the field sprint. I thought I had great position, I was second out of the last corner, but this girl who lead it out was real fast. I just couldn't come around.

You know if you've seen one office park crit, you've seen them all. The guy standing there watching is Eddy B. You know, the Eddie B, as in Bicycle Road Racing, the cyclist's Bible.

I also did the men's cat 3 race and did pretty darn well if I do say so myself. I'll admit it wasn't the fastest 3's race I've been in, but I hung in there just fine. Most of the time I just tail gun those men's fields and try to hold on just for the speed work, but today I was sparking it up. I actually rode in the front for quite a bit of the race and got in a short lived break. That's the first time I've ever gotten in a break in a men's 3 race, and I even bridged up to it. The let us dangle out there for a while, I think becuase the "girlie" was in it so they figured it wasn't going anywhere. By the way, once I came back to the group one guy did say "good job girlie" to me. I didn't place in the men's race but I did try a flyer with 2 to go. It was a weak attempt at best.
The best part of today was I saw my friend Brad Huff. I guess he and Mike Creed have gotten pretty close since joining CREF this year.
Here's Brad in about his milltionth break. He was off the front so many times I lost count. In the end I don't know who won, I couldn't stay to watch the finish. It was a 100k crit... in an office park! I had to get up to Pasadena before dinner, so sorry Brad. I hope you did well, good luck in Europe!

Can you see that? That's snow. It snowed in this hills in Santa Barbara last night.

Went down to State Street today and did a little shopping... and finally got a picture of this guy. I see him every day, and he's a trip. He's got the best bike in all of SB. Notice the CDs in his spokes and the plastic bags around his legs.

Alas, it's time to say good-bye Santa Barbara. I'll miss you dear friend but I promise to return.

Well, it is California in the spring after all, so we had a bit of rain today. At least it's not snow, which I heard Colorado got a bunch of this week. Today we were extremely lucky and made it out to ride in the narrow window of time this morning that it wasn't raining like this.

As if the scenery and riding wasn't enough, here's another reason California is better than Colorado. I'm addicted to Trader Joe's. Since it's only about a mile from the house I go every day.

And one more reason California is better than Colorado...Sushi.