Last night I rode my bike on the track!

It was crazy scary fun! It had just rained about an hour earlier, and we weren't sure if we'd be able to ride, but the track dried out and pretty soon I was out in the infield practicing riding a fixed gear track bike. I really had to retrain my brain and body to learn this new skill. It was very awkward at first. But once I got going, I got the hang of it, and pretty soon I was ready to ride on the track. It was a daunting proposition, since, as seen in this picture, it is quite banked. The idea is that the faster you go, the further up the track you can ride. I only got up to the red line, which was plenty high for my first time. And it required such intense concentration, that I didn't even notice I was doing any work until I realized that I had to stop because my engine wouldn't go anymore.

It was quite the experience, and I hope to do it again one day. But I am now even more amazed that people actually race on there!

Designing T-shirts

I started making t-shirt designs just to keep my Adobe Illustrator skillz well-honed. You can see them at:

www.cafepress.com/yoga_chakra
www.cafepress.com/atha_yoga
(atha yoganusasanam is the first yoga sutra, which means, roughly "now we begin our practice of yoga")

and this one just for my friends:
www.cafepress.com/brownchicken

It's quite addicting, sitting here playing with Illustrator when I should be doing my InDesign homework.

My Happy Place

I went on a retreat last weekend and unexpectedly discovered the place that from now on my mind will go when I need to be happy and relaxed.

It's called the Christine Center.

If I could live there, I would. And maybe I'll figure out a way to do that one day.

I wanted to find a quiet place where I could go to be in nature and work on editing my book. I found the Christine Center on the web, and thought that a nice big room for yoga would be a good addition to my solo writing retreat, so I sort of spur-of-the-moment emailed to ask if they had any accommodations for the next weekend, and the answer was basically, yes, what type of lodging would you like? I chose the rustic cabin since it was only 38 bucks a night and I could use the showers in the main building.

I wrote back and said I was interested in a rustic cabin and three meals a day and I got an email back saying "you are registered for this weekend." Three nights of lodging and three vegetarian meals a day was going to set me back $190. I was sort of surprised that it was that easy and then I started to have regrets. I hadn't been on a completely solo vacation for years. I don't know what it was, but I was a little nervous. But I didn't have much time to ruminate, since I only had two days to get ready to go.

I brought my computer, my pillow, some clothes and a backpack full of books that I thought might help me with editing or at least good bedside reading.

I had no idea what to expect.

After work on Thursday I headed to Wisconsin. I had never been off the freeway between Chippewa Falls and Abbotsford, so I got to see some countryside that was all new to me. There are mounds that rise up out of nowhere disrupting the miles of farmland. I could't have seen them from the freeway, so I was glad to have this as part of my journey.

I arrived at the center at about 7:30 p.m., when the sky was starting to get orange. I pulled up in front of the main building and all I could hear was the gravel beneath the tires and a cacophony of crickets.

I looked for the main entrance, and it was a bell tower in the shape of a silo. A wooden carving above the door said "Welcome. We are one." And there was an old blue bike, just like my little blue, sitting right outside the door. It was a very good sign.

I entered the building and the silence continued. I found the front desk and talked to Marie, who said "we're so glad you're here." And I believe she meant it. She showed me around the main building, including the meditation/yoga/gathering room, which is a big circle with windows on all sides. There were a circle of meditation cushions on the floor in the middle of the room and it smelled like a church candle had recently been burned.

Then she showed me the dining room, with the complimentary coffee and tea and fruit available 24 hours a day.

Finally, she gave me directions to my cabin. "You'll be staying in Love" she said, and pointed to it on a map.

I already knew coming here was the right decision, and things only got better. The night sky was clear and dark and the Milky Way was as distinct as the big dipper. There were two little ponds with goldfish, frogs and turtles. Deer and red-headed woodpeckers roamed the woods all day. The daily schedule consisted of yoga and meditation in the morning, communal breakfast (organic yogurt and granola, fruit, and the best pancakes I've ever had), lunch, meditation at 5:00, and then dinner. They rang the bell for each meditation session and each meal. Otherwise it was pristine in its silence. For three days I heard crickets and hummingbirds and that's about all.

I used the woodfired sauna one night, had a hot stone massage in a building adjacent to the center, participated in a conversation series on global consciousness transformation, and went for a run on the wooded trail system. All in all, a perfect weekend. The Franciscan nuns who run the center are very progressive and nurturing. The other guests and volunteers made for interesting conversations at the meals, and the location was so removed from everyday life, that I actually got a chance to meditate for half hour stretches in addition to getting about 8 chapters of my book edited.

It is my vision of Nirvana. In fact, if Nirvana is better than this, I honestly cannot imagine it.

Namaste,
Kate

Team Time Trial
This year we had two Velo Bella teams for the Town Hall Team Time Trial. Me and Brook did it last year with a slightly different team and shaved 6 minutes off our time this year. It was a gorgeous day in the 70's with no humidity and little wind. The course was beautiful rolling farmland and woods. We worked well together and finished strong. And we looked awesome doing it. That's me and Greiber chillin' at the back of the paceline.

Bike Race!

Last weekend I did my first road race.

My teammate, Jen, offered to drive me and Manda up to Marty MN, near St. Cloud, for a 30 mile race.

I felt good that day, ate the right stuff, warmed up enough, brought all the required equipment.

Our group of cat 4 women had 10 racers, and two 40+ women raced with us as well. I was surprised at the easy start pace. No vying for position or sprinting off the front. I was able to hang with the pack pretty easily and only almost got dropped once on a hill. I didn't take any turns at the front, since I wasn't sure what the pace should be, having never done a road race before, so I stayed in the middle or back of the pack.

After about 6 miles, I noticed that Jen was off the back. I had agreed ahead of time to work with her, so I was sad to see her struggling. I kept looking back, hoping she'd catch back up. I even told my other two teammates that she was dropped, hoping that they could either help pull her back up or at least try to moderate the pace of the pack by going up front. Neither of those things happened, and she kept dropping further back. I was doing okay holding on to the pack, not dying, but not exactly able to stay near the front either. I was having a moral dilemma. All I could think about was how bad Jen must feel riding into the 20 mile headwind all by herself. And there was still a lot of road to cover.

So I tried to motion her up when the pack slowed a little, but she wasn't able to make any ground. So it was then that I made the decision that makes Michael think I'm too nice. I dropped back to ride with my teammate. I could've probably held onto the pack for another few miles, maybe even the whole first lap of the two lap race, but then I'd be shelled off the back into no man's land and we'd both end up riding alone. This way we'd be able to work together right away and at least see what its' like to ride a road race, rather than a time trial.

So I waited and waited, soft pedaling until she caught up. Then I pulled her up the next couple hills and into the wind. By the time we got to the top of the one big hill, she was feeling strong enough to pull on the downhill. Wow, Jen is really strong on the gradual down/flat parts! We averaged about 27 mph while she was pulling. It took most of the rest of the course for us to figure out that she was stronger on that type of road and I was stronger on the hills and into the wind, but eventually we managed to work with our strengths. By then we caught up to Manda, who was riding alone. Turned out she had stayed with the pack for the whole first lap. We worked a mini paceline to the finish and then we had a fun sprint between the three of us. I have to learn to take a leadout and come around, as I'm always the one in front until the last second and then I get passed. But it was really fun and unlike my time trials and criterium experiences, I never felt like I was going to throw up. Michael would say that means I wasn't working hard enough, but hey, I finished and I had a good time and we worked as a team :) There was one person who had a DNF, so I came in 11th out of 12.

I'm excited for the next time.

Kate's Crit

I finally did a "real" bike race. Today was my first criterium. It was at the State Fairgrounds, with nice wide streets and 6 corners. The course was about 3/4 mile, and we had to do 40 minutes. I'm not sure how many laps that was, but it ended up being around 13 miles for me.

The race was a women's open race, with cat 4's scored separately from the cat 1-3 women (of which there were quite a few.)

Some of the women on the starting line had just completed the Nature Valley Grand Prix Pro race this past week. I could only watch in awe as they pulled away and lapped me within the first 4 laps.

I tried as hard as I could to stay with the one person who was still within a reasonable distance, but I was giving everything I had and she was still going just a bit faster than I was.

The effort involved was about the same as the 7 mile time trial I did last year, which means the heart rate was above 180 the whole time and I felt like I was going to either throw up or cough up blood.

Just when I was starting to think this is crazy, there's no way I should be out here (about the time the leaders had lapped me for the second time) I managed to catch on to a group of three who came around me. I could immediately tell the difference between drafting in that group and riding alone, and decided that I was going to do whatever it took to stay with that group. And I stayed with them for the last 8 laps, finishing dead last, but finishing nonetheless.

It was harder than I thought it would be, even though everyone told me how hard it would be. But it was also the most fun I've had while pushing myself to the limit. Way more fun than a time trial, because there's a mental boost when you can ride with other racers.

I learned a lot about what to do and especially what not to do. And I'm so very glad I kept the rubber side down, and I FINISHED!

First crit is now out of the way. Whew!

The Novel Plan:
In order to finish a complete mostly edited draft of my novel by the end of the summer, I have created a timeline for myself. I will have to edit five chapters a week for the next six weeks. So far I've done the first five, so I'm already in week 2. If I force myself to stick to this plan, I WILL have it done by August. The idea of that is so thrilling to me that it might just be enough motivation for me to do it.

An unrelated goal: get back to doing yoga 3 times a week. I feel so much better when I'm doing yoga regularly, and it will help me mentally get through this crappy weather when I'm not inspired to get outside on my bike. Yoga has a trickle-down effect on my life. When I do yoga, I eat better, think more positively, and feel more calm and centered.