Saddle Up!

Hey There! I'm holding down the fort over here with the last few weeks of training before California 70.3 my first BIG pro race.  I'm already getting nervous and I just looked at the pro start list and I totally shouldn't have. D'oh! You mean you want me to race THEM?!? This is really happening! I keep telling myself, "you never know..." You NEVER know what may happen on race day. At the very least, my pro adventures should make for some good blogging. You know you were getting sick of reading my same old race reports, "Oh  hum-dee-doo, I was 5th off the bike and ran and ran my way to the podium and then I puked the end." [and you maybe wanted to poke my eyes out]. As a pro, I can guarantee that it will no longer look like easy street (it never was) and that should definitely spice things up 'round here!

Anyway, back to Califrornia 70.3 (which by the way is in 17 dyas) and the training leading up to it. Of course in these last important weeks, my day job decided to turn the screws on me a bit and has made fitting in all the life/work/training tight. But, the plan is to plow through and make the most of the time I have. Luckily, "making the most" is easy around here....

Last weekend was fun-filled all things Cannondale....3 days, 3 bikes to ride!

On FRIDAY afternoon, I got to test out my new Lexi Mountain Bike on the dirt in Del Sur!

Well, hello Sexi Lexi! (Check out the fork-no, it's not broken,  it's called a Lefty)

Aside from not being able to figure out how to remove the front wheel or shift into the little ring, things went very smoothly (thanks to my tour guides JC & Blaize).

Happy Hour Friday!

SATURDAY was a "typical" team ride with our sqaud on my Slice TT bike. The only thing "un-typical" was that I rode much stronger than usual...Here's to breaking the mold! 4 hours of hills later, I banged out a nice 6 mile t-run and later a lazy swim....

Ok, this is a neighborhood, not one of the "hills" but you get the idea...Ok fine, this isn't even from Saturday ride but I did wear the same kit & helmet & glasses. 

Although my SUNDAY key workout was my long run (which got completed late afternoon on the trails with my iPod), I first spent the morning on my comfy SuperSix roadie  along the coast for a good cause. I joined the Cannondale team (complete with 4x Ironman World Champion Miss Chrissie Wellington!) for a 40 mile charity ride benefitting the Challenged Athletes Foundation. Amazing opportunity, amazing group, and again made me feel so proud to be a part of the Cannondale family.

PR man with a plan Bill & Miss Wellington

I'm realizing more every day that I have found myself much more than just a "bike sponsor". We've been working on lots of other things behind the scenes to empower women in cycling and triathlon and I can't wait to see where the year takes us!

My goal is to reach out to as many women as possible and encourage them make that scary jump from "I can pedal a bike" to "I know how to ride a bike" (regardless of the brand of bike they purchase/borrow/steal). Cycling for fitness and triathlon has changed my life and I want to take some of the "scary" that I felt out of it and encourage women saddle up. From traffic to clipping-in to bike maintenance, it can all be a little very intimidating- and 4 years ago- I was that woman totally overwhelmed by it all.  Hopefully, with Cannondale this year, I can help more women experience some sweat & sunshine on a bicycle....after all, look at my view from two wheels in just one weekend!

P.s. Skinny Runner gave a shout out to my abs. I HAVE ARRIVED, PEOPLE!