tuesday night time trials | week one

Eleven all out, max heart rate, leg burning miles of bike riding bliss.

That perfectly sums up the first Tuesday Night Time Trial (TnT) on May 7 and my first-ever TnT (and definitely not last!).

Nick and I arrived at Twin Cities Spoke event about 90 minutes early, picked up our numbers, met up with our friend Nick, prepped our bikes and hit the road for a warm-up. Coach Joe left a detailed warm-up plan in my Training Peaks log, but once I started riding, I quickly forgot about it and just pedaled, thoroughly enjoying the wide shoulders with minimal traffic, no breeze, magical spring air and chorus of frogs from the surrounding wetlands.

race report | take the hill tri

Last Saturday morning, I woke up to this:

The forecast had been dismal all week, and I was pretty cranky about it (just ask Nick), but I was hoping they were wrong (they weren’t).

Nevertheless, I packed all my gear for the Take the Hill sprint triathlon at Gustavus in Saint Peter and decided racing in the rain would be a last minute decision. Of course I knew the entire time I’d race, but I just wanted to complain about the crap weather a bit. (Last year’s race weather was equally terrible.)

ironman canada | week 14

What did ironman training teach me this week? That sometimes your body screams at you to slow the eff down and REST.

After a particularly fantastic Friday filled with my sister, my sweet niece and a 51-mile out-and-back bike ride from Woodbury to Afton to almost Marine on St. Croix…

ironman canada | week 13

It was a good gear week. This sweet #teamSOAS package welcomed me home from work on Monday. Best gear ever, and I am thrilled to race in it and represent such a kick ass company all season! Not to mention my rock star teammates!

from road bike to tri bike…

I learned to bike with the boys and Missy on quiet country roads in rural Minnesota. Tuesday nights were sprints, and we’d race to the stop ahead signs for a smelly XL green jersey. On Saturdays, we’d ride long, up and down hills, legs burning, borderline bonking, and refuel 65 miles later with coffee and bagels.

I lived for those rides, that first summer of cycling, where I fell head over heels for the hum of the peloton, the whir of wheels mere inches away, the stunning sunsets as we pedaled back into town, tired and thirsty and grinning ear to ear, already counting the hours until we could do it again.

My first road bike, a trusty black Trek Pilot 2.1 with pink handlebar tape, got a LOT of #bikelove that year. I think I logged close to 4,000 miles in four months and only once, when I was chased by a snarling farm dog, was I scared.