Redlands 2010!! :)

All I can really say about Redlands is HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, that was the craziest race I have ever done!! It put to shame everything I have ever done, honestly it makes Utah races (and even regional races for that matter) seem like riding around on tricycles in comparison! Lining up with some of the fastest girls in the US and in the world was an incredible experience. These girls are my heros, the names I've read about, heard incredible stories about, and the girls I have always looked up to! Now I was lined up right with them. Intimidating to say the least, and that was before the race even started!! Those girls can really ride their bikes and are absolutely insane (and fit as hell!!)

It all started on Thursday with the 3.1 mile long uphill prologue. It is hard not to feel intimidated and like a bit of a scrub as all the pro teams roll up in their sweet team vans/buses/cars etc. fully loaded with the best bikes, mechanics, and team directors there are! I did okay, not my best and my legs weren't feeling very responsive and climby like they usually do but I was okay with 32nd out of over 100 girls, 1:30 down from the leader Amber Neben, the world time trial champion (at first I wasn't okay with it, I was really bummed, and then I realized I needed to calm down cuz it was my first NRC race ever and I was only there for the experience).

HTC has some sweet stuff!

I'd die to be on Tibco, they have some amazing girls!

They weighed and measured each bike before the prologue. One of my teammates bikes was too light so they taped a chain and allen wrench to it! It was hilarious!

The starting ramp for the prologue!

The one and only Ina! She is something else! Two time winner of Redlands and man is she FIT!!

Amber Neben took the stage win yet again (she isn't the world time trial champion for nothing!) Her bike is sweeet!!

Stage 1 (a 65 mile road race with a little bit of everything) was balls out from the beginning even in the neutral roll out! There were girls hitting pot holes with water bottles flying everywhere!! Those chicks will push you right into a curb and not think twice just to get around you. I'm not gonna lie, I was completely terrified for the first 30 minutes, until I realized I needed to hold my own and stop being such a wuss! I tried to stay in the front when we were climbing, one of the climbs they call "little Europe" because it weaves through these tiny streets and gets really narrow. The first time up it I was in the front climbing next to Carmen, Mara Abbot and Amber Neben, pretty good company!! The course wasn't too technical so I stuck with the main pack and had a pack finish, and left with a whole new respect for racing...which grew more and more with each stage!

The start/finish of Stage 1

The Pro men racing Stage 1

I sure love to carbo-load at the Spaghetti factory!:)

Ice bath survival!!

My big failure came with the crit! This was my first big crit ever and I had good intentions to do what so many people had told me to, but somehow everything went totally wrong and I did just about the opposite. I got to the gate about 30 minutes early so I'd be in good position to line up (which everyone told me to do), only to find out at the last minute that I was at the wrong gate! So of course I was in the back row of the starting pack at the crit, AND in the freakin middle! I didn't stand wide enough or stick my elbows out nearly far enough because people pushed passed me like I wasn't even there! To make matter worse they shot the gun and I, of course, couldn't get clipped in! So everyone raced past me and I didn't catch up till the first corner where I was at the VERY back of the pack! This course was 1 mile, with 9 turns, not exactly my style and with hardly any place to move up! There was only one long stretch and it was through the start/finish, which happened to be a false flat with a seriously unforgiving headwind!! I was screwed!! I knew I only had to make it 40 minutes to make the time cut and race the final stage so that was my goal, and a heart breaking goal at that, I never wanted to settle for just making the time cut. I chased on after almost every corner and battled on that long false flat just to hold on, I've never been so spent in my life! I made it to 40 minutes and then with 9 laps to go for the group I fell off the back and they pulled me. I cried like a baby right as I got off the course because I was really disappointed in myself, and really embarrassed. I'd just gotten dropped in front of all of my heros and it hurt pretty bad!

Pure HELL...I mean the crit course ;)

After the first road race I'd thought I'd learned what racing with the pros really was...but the final stage on the sunset loop changed everything and taught me a hell of a lot more than the first road race did. We had a car right in front of the pack for the neutral roll out to make sure it really was neutral, since the first days neutral roll out rolled along at a good 35 miles an hour, not so neutral! As soon as the cars pulled off it was absolute madness!!!! The first KOM was around mile 9 up the climb so they were gunning it!! And I mean GUNNING it!! What I didn't know was that within those first miles of climbing was some CRAZY technical descents that led to more climbing! I hung on in the front 10 of the pack up the first climb, hit the first super technical descent and got passed by most the field because I am such a chicken and don't have the technical skills to descend with them...it was heartbreaking! I held onto the back of the pack through the next climb that was a lot longer and more sustained watching one rider after the next get dropped off at the crazy pace they were climbing. I moved my way up a little bit and was feeling good, until we came to a wonderful descent with a crazy high percent grade!! Most people hate climbing and love descending...NOT me, I would sooo much rather be going uphill than down! Those girls cruised down that mountain like there was no tomorrow, one girl took a corner into some gravel and landed FACE FIRST on the ground. If I wasn't scared enough before than, that sure did the trick and I was off the back yet again!! I chased and chased and that is pretty much how the sunset loop went for me! Got dropped on every descent and chased on on every climb! The pack got completely shattered and the finishing group only had 10 girls in it and they were 15 minutes ahead of the next group of 10! It was absolute insanity!! I don't even know how to explain it, there are no words!! All I can say is that I REALLY need to learn to descend and I need some SERIOUS technical skills and the ability to remove all fear from brain as I cruise down a mountain in a pack of 50-100 people at 65 mph...yeah that's not scary at all!! Sheesh!! It did give me the fire to get better because I want so badly what all of those girls have!! I've never wanted something more in my life, I want to be with that pack of ten that sprints it out in the hardest stage of the hardest NRC race, and I would do just about anything to get there!! I was heart broken being at the back of the pack because I want so badly to be able to ride with those girls! And someday I will, I'm more determined now than I have ever been to get better and reach that level!! Redlands is a beautiful place, and it smells like orange blossoms everywhere! It was an incredible experience...incredibly painful, incredibly heartbreaking, and incredibly inspiring!!

I'm obviously not a light packer!

Our lovely hotel!

My flight left on Monday morning and my team left Sunday night so I had this lovely king size bed all to myself!!:) After riding to chipotle to get a burrito that weighed 10 lbs, and to starbucks (sorry Matt;) for my much needed Chai and chocolate chip cookie, and cuddling up to watch "Home Alone," I was a happy and completely exhausted girl!!

Home sweet home!

I can't wait to go back and prove that I can do it!! You may have gotten me to cry like a baby, but it's not over Redlands!! :)

Tucson Bicycle Classic 2010!!:)

Bike race #2 of the season started off a little bit rough!! Initially we'd been told we only needed our road bikes, since I was flying that sounded fabulous! Then at the very last minute Corey called and told me that a TT bike was definitely needed...which meant flying with two bikes in two bike boxes (I couldn't find a double bike box!;) However that was not the rough part...that came later about an hour and a half before my TT start time! My team and I got their early enough to ride the course, which was critical with this course which consisted of screaming down hill, rollers, false flats from hell, and a large kicker of a climb to the finish! I was SO excited to race this course because it was really fun, and exactly what I love...fast, short (3.1 miles), and climby!! I'd struggled a bit at the Valley of the Sun TT which was flat, windy and 14 miles long so I really wanted to kill it on this TT! While we were pre-riding the course I realized that I couldn't get into my little ring on my TT bike, which was vital on the last climb to the finish so I started to panic a little. I rode back trying to find a mechanic or someone at all to help me. With about 30 minutes to go till my start time a random guy came to the rescue, or so I thought. He told me that the airlines must have bent my front de-railer and he couldn't fix it. By then it was 12:15 and my start time was 12:31, I hadn't even warmed up and my bike was broken...only four letter words fit that situation! My plan was to just go out as hard as I could on the flat and fast part, come over the rollers with as much momentum as possible and try like hell to make it up that last big kicker in my big ring. I knew the winning time from last year was around 8 minutes and 19 seconds so when I crossed the finish line at 8:53 I was broken hearted and sure that I'd come in close to last. We had to wait all day to find out results (that was a bit agonizing!) and when they finally posted them it was nothing but awesome news!! My team captain Susannah Gordon had taken first with a time of 8:36 and I was sitting in 4th place!!:) With the mechanical from hell and no warm up I was ecstatic with 4th and even more excited that our team had the leaders jersey!!

Road race was next up and we knew we'd have to protect that jersey. We were expecting there to be points for the top 3 finishers in the road race and also intermediate sprint points so we were gearing up for an all out effort for both opportunities or at least to make sure the girls close to our times didn't get them. Then at the start line the official informed us that the finisher bonuses had been removed because they forgot to print them in the race bible (DUMB!! Their race bible was ridiculous!! Two out of three of the courses were printed wrong and they forgot to add in the finishers bonus points...this is not the first year they have put on this race, they've been doing it for 24 years you'd think they would get it right...ohhh well!!) Then the official also informed us that the sprint bonuses aren't for 15, 10, and 5 like it said in the race bible but 3, and 2 seconds, a new UCI rule! This made a little more sense because those are HUGE sprint bonus times but still a shocker to learn right at the start line. So the race started pretty mellow but FREEZING! Did I mention our start time was 6:55 AM, I thought early start times were what they did to torture the Cat 4's, not the Pro 1,2's! It did warm up after a bit and I really enjoyed this course, the 2nd half was all power climbs and it is SO fun to cruise up those climbs! The sprint point was coming and I saw a girl jump for it so I stuck on her wheel, couldn't quite get around her but was happy with 2nd and the 2 seconds I got. The girl who got the 3 seconds was in 13th place and not a huge threat. On lap three going over the climbs I was trying to stay in the top fourth of the pack going into the finish, but the trisport team was doing a great job attacking and blocking! (We only had half the road and these roads were tiny!! Where they placed the finish line couldn't have been anymore dangerous...finishes on decents with only half the road are a terrible idea!!) On the last riser and decent into the finish I got completely blocked out by the trisport girls and missed a tiny break. I nearly broke the yellow line rule to get through and try my best to sprint up to the break but I'd run out of gearing and was totally spun out! I caught the break right and the line and came in 6th...not awesome but everyone got pack time so it wasn't a huge loss. The lovely officials made sure to tell us that even though we'd sprinted for the points, they didn't record them right and decided to cancel the sprint points altogether! What?!?! I was a little upset...since they took away every chance to gain time, and it was a pack finish, that race was pretty much useless, nonexistent, and the GC remained exactly the same.

Bright and early before the road race!

Attempting to pump up my spare wheels!

Dinner before the last stage. The best mexican food I've ever had...they all got real margaritas and I got a delicious virgin one!!:)

With a start time of 6:41 AM for the circuit race we were up by 4...ouch! I'm not gonna lie I am NOT a morning person! Racing my bike is about the only thing I'd get up that early in the morning for!;) The course was a 6 or 7 mile loop half climbing, half descent/flats with a climb to the finish! There were sprint points on the 3rd lap so that lap was fast with constant attacks, climbing up to the sprint points I just wanted to make sure that the girls in 4th, 5th, and 6th that were within seconds of me didn't get any sprint points (I memorized their numbers the night before so I could keep my eye out for em!;) Rebeccca Much (Tibco) and a Trisports girl ended up taking the two sprint bonuses, neither of them effected me but if Rebecca got the win, she'd take the leaders jersey from Susannah. I like circuit races because it gives me a chance to read the race lap after lap, so I know where I need to be and when I need to be there in order to be successful. I had heard Cari Higgins (Peanut butter and co, 2012) talking to Rebecca (Tibco) and I knew that Cari was going to be working for Rebecca at the finish. I knew I had to come around the final corner in the top 5 riders to have any kind of chance. We hit that last corner and I came around in 4th. Cari took off, leading out the sprint for Rebecca. I got on her wheel and with 150 ft or so to go I took off around Cari. The line was right there and I thought I had it, until I hit the line and saw Rebecca sweep across it just inches in front of me! I hadn't even seen her till the very end! 2nd place or not I was happy to be where I was, sprinting against a world champion...and a picture of the sprint even made velonews!:) Unfortunately Susannah lost the leaders jersey in the last stage. Rebecca took over as the GC with Susannah in second and me in third. For the very first race our team has ever done together, I'd say two podium spots is pretty good!:) Even though it was a bit disorganized I still loved this race and had a great time with my new teammates! :)

The sprint! Inches!!

Bright and early before the Circuit race!

Still can't figure out why I was standing like that! ;)

Mmmm that was a good apple!;)

Angela and Lisa Renee

After the race I got an email from Tammy on the trisports team asking me if I'd guest ride for them at Redlands!! This is the first NRC race of the year, and one that my coach had told me I couldn't do, his exact words were, "Its the first NRC race of the year, all the pro teams are going to be trying to kill each other....patience patience patience Tayler!" After this race he told me I'd proved myself and that I can go guest ride for that team!:) I've only heard horror stories about Redlands (like most ppl don't make it past the crit) which is a bit terrifying, and I'm heading for a definite butt kicking, but I couldn't be more excited!! :)

Valley of the Sun 2010! :)

Yes I am the very worst blogger on the planet, but now that racing has started I gotta keep it up to date!!:)

Last weekend was Valley of the Sun down in sunny, warm, beautiful Arizona...can you tell I didn't want to come back? ;) This was my first race of the season, and really my first big race as a Pro 1,2 so I was super nervous! Matt, Steph and I drove down Thursday morning and got to Phoenix around 10:30 PM. (I've gotta give Matt a gigantic THANK YOU for driving us both ways, that was a full 24+ hours of driving and I owe him big time!! He was also our amazing little mechanic, don't know what I would have done without you Matt!!:) Love ya!) Thankfully my TT start time wasn't until 2:07 the next day, giving me plenty of time to sleep in, wake up, and be ridiculously nervous before we had to leave. Driving to the TT we saw a giant cardboard baby in the middle of some farmers field (litarally giant, like 50 ft tall cardboard baby in the middle of nowhere!) I have to admit that in a strange way that calmed me down a bit!;) I got anxious again once we got there but was brought back down again after talking to Carmen and Kelly. They asked how I was doing and of course I said, "I'm really nervous!" Kelly replied saying, "Hey its just a bike race, there will be plenty more!" Not gonna lie I was intimidated as hell by her confidence and how relaxed she was, but the truth was that it really was just a bike race and there really would be plenty more! And I'd probably do myself a huge favor if I calmed down a little! I warmed up (my heart rate was around 140 just sitting there because of my nerves! And I was sweating like crazy cuz it was sooo hot...which I can't complain about really! Being in shorts and a jersey all weekend was amazing! Riding around Salt Lake with an extra 15 lbs of clothing is good resistance training I'd say!) I headed to the start, so not to repeat a capitol reef missed start, and they called me up! I had looked at last years fastest times so I knew what speed I needed to go, and off I went...just not as fast as I'd hoped!;) I felt great on the way out, passing 4 girls, hit the turn around (couldn't have gone any slower around that) and headed back. I didn't hit the turn around as early as I'd hoped so I knew I had to make up time on the way back...and then it happened for the first time EVER...I got passed! Not once but twice...I was bummed but it motivated me to go harder (I even revisted the sandwich I'd eaten a few hours before and was 4 minutes faster than I was on the way out) but overall I was pretty upset. Results were posted and I was 10th, not super awesome. Good ole coach Corey called me later, Carmen had told him how nervous I was before the race and how bummed I was about the finish and we had a good talk. He is constantly reminding me that cycling is a progression and that I need to relax and work on my biomechanics. Me, relax...but I want to go 100 mph all the time, the word progression is not really in my vocabulary, I don't want to relax! Teehehe Corey knows this about me, which is why he is the best thing for me!;) Anyway I was determined to do better in the road race!

After looking at my TT pictures I realized my TT position needs a LOT of work, I'm not very aero!

Corey chatted with Carmen about having me work for her during the road race and I was really excited about that! Carmen was in 2nd, only 4 seconds down from the leader, so my job was to help her get the sprint points on the QOM climb. We hit the climb and she told me to go tempo at the front and string out the pack. I went to the front and drove it, at one point Carmen yelled, "Go GO!" So I stood up and sprinted. I found out later that I'd started to gap off the pack, I increased the gap and another team had to close it. I lead out Carmen until about 1 km to go where she sprinted around me and got the points. I have never really raced like that before, as a team, racing for someone else, and I loved it!! In final sprint to the finish, she took 3rd giving her a second time bonus and the leaders jersey. I came in 4th and was pretty happy about it!:)

If you know me at all you know I struggle with cornering, so racing a Pro 1,2 crit with 50 people sounded pretty terrifying to me...okay really terrifying! I got to the line early so I didn't start in the back of the pack. My plan was mostly just to keep the rubber down and not die! We got the 5-4-3-2-1 countdown and were off! Believe it or not I loved it!! It was fast and sketchy at times (not nearly as sketchy as the B flight at the RMR...those dudes could learn a lesson from these chicks!!) but such a blast! I'm not gonna lie, I'm terrible at holding my position and I was constantly fighting to get back in the front, but once I figure out positioning and how to navigate my way through the pack I think I am really going to love crit racing! I had terrible positioning coming around the last corner but sprinted past as many people as I could and settled with a middle of the pack finish. I never feel good about coming in mid-pack in anything, but it only gives me inspiration to improve and be more aggressive!!:)

Look I'm even smiling...okay okay that's actually my pain face!;)

Me and my buddy Kelsey Kooreman! She has turned into quite the little crit racer!! Love her!

In the end I held my 10th place, which was still in the money!!:) And I was the top U23 rider, which came with a $100 cash prize, yahoooo!!:)

Did I mention my little PCIM chicks did awesome!!!! Chan and Steph did awesome in every stage, Chan even won the crit!!:) They ended up being 2nd and 3rd in the overall Cat 3 GC!! Way to represent!! Kelsey "Hero" Kooreman killed it in the crit taking 8th place in the Pro 1,2's!! She has become quite the little crit racer!! Love you girls!!

This was the first race my Dad has been able to come to and I was really glad he did! He had some crazy travel issues trying to get there but I'm so glad he made it, it meant a lot to me having him there! He had never seen me race and I loved having him there. My parents mean everything to me and having them be a part of something I am so passionate about means the world to me. Racing is my big dream and I couldn't do it without them. I love all four of you soooo much!! (How lucky am I, I have 4 parents!!;)

My Mom and Ernie are usually my biggest cheering section and best "feed zoners!" They stayed home this time to watch my new puppy Ridley and spoiled him rotten!!:) He misses their house already! Thanks for watching my little guy and cheering me on from Utah!!:) Love you!!

What a bunch of hotties! ;)

We had our super cute/silly/slightly inappropriate (words that ironically describe our team shenanigans as a whole!) team pics taken about a month ago and we had a blast doing it (if you can't tell just by looking!;) Here it is, PCIM photoshoot...our craziness caught on film!

This one is actually my favorite...even though it looks like I'm totally checking out Kelsey...okay okay I was!;)

Not sure whose hand that is up in the middle...or what it was planning on doing!

There is just something painfully awkward about posing for pictures is spandex...

The awkward spandex pose gets even better when helmets and glasses are added!

"One of these things is not like the other...one of these things just doesn't belong!" (I'll give you a hint it starts with a T - ends in a ayler and slightly resembles a GIANT!! )

Thats a little better...Ruby made the shot!:)

Yay Northwave...allll for the sponsors!

Yes, we were in fact told to "flex" our calf muscles...Nisie and PB couldn't help but checkout the definish'...afterall PB was the sexy calf contest runner up!! I on the other hand lost in the first round! ;)

Ummmm...me and Kelsey are quite close! ;) "Salmon!!"

Awwweee PB! :)

I freakin love this girl!! Kooreman makes me laugh so hard I about pee my pants every time I see her!

Alisha the rockstar!! I'm hoping a little bit of her awesomeness will rub off on me!

Jillian our little junior rockstar!

Jillians little sister Jenna...future champ!

Ummmm...

Unfortunately KK didn't send us her individual pic or Nisie's!!:( However I saved the very best for last!!

THE FLYING V FORMATION!!

Yes that did actually happen!!!! What are team pics without the flying V!! Haha this was Kooreman's idea (couldn't have guessed that!!), as you could see we were supposed to have our serious "hard core" faces on...hah I obviously found that impossible!! I'm not sure how they all kept straight faces while posing, hair done, in spandex, in a V formation for goodness sake!! All things hilarious! I heard rumors that team Skullcandy is picking up the fly V formation at their next team photoshoot! I think the Tease might have to fight off "Sir falls a lot" for the top spot at the point of the V...

Like I said, we are silly and inappropriate (tee hehe) at times...but I wouldn't want it any other way!! I love my team, they have all become my very best friends!:)