This Too Shall Pass (I Hope)

Posted on by lindsay
After racing the Shenandoah Mountain 100 a few weeks ago, I was supposed to have taken a rest week to help me recover before the start of the cyclocross season. When my shoulder became a nagging problem in the days leading up to the race, though,  my coach and I decided that I would take the rest week before the 100, and then resume regular training afterwards. In one sense, the plan worked: my shoulder has not hurt at all since the race, and other than staying away from push-ups (ideally forever), I have been able to resume all usual activity. My riding, however, went downhill after the race and stayed there until I finally raised a red flag midway through last week. In the days immediately after the 100, it was exciting to be back on the mountain bike, capitalizing on the confidence I’d built up by riding so ...continue reading.

Race Report: Welcome to the Thunderdome, Bitches.

Posted on by lindsay
This past Sunday was the Shenandoah Mountain 100, a one-hundred mile bike race through the mountains of Virginia. I did the race for the first time last year with Bobby, but decided to fly solo this year. The Log Posse came out in full, with Steve joining me in the race and the rest of the Posse providing moral support and volunteering at one of the six aid stations along the course. Log Posse headquarters. Photos compliments of Mike, Log Posse Magnate. In the interest of keeping this race report a manageable length, I’ll break it up into a rough synopsis of my status at each of the checkpoints, as well as at the beginning and the end, followed by a summary of the overall race. If it still takes forever to read, I’m sorry. It took forever to ride. The Start: In 2008, we started in a huge pack ...continue reading.

Recently Asked Questions

Posted on by lindsay
Someone close to me recently raised some questions about my racing in relation to my life, but I couldn’t find words to respond at the time. Since I’m better in writing than I am on the spot, here are my thoughts on the conversation. Why am I responding to them here? Well, chances are you’re either somebody with similar questions, or you’re a bike racer that will completely understand where I'm coming from, or you’re really bored at work and it’s either this or another thirty minutes browsing Craigslist. 1. You don’t seem happy with racing; in fact, all you seem to do is complain and express doubts. I rarely seem happy with anything. Frankly, I think it’s just my personality. When I am riding, unless it is a terrible workout or a crap day on the bike, I am very happy. The only witnesses to that, however, are usually ...continue reading.

Push Through THIS

Posted on by lindsay
When Bobby and I went the beach a few weeks ago, we tossed a foam football around in the water in hopes that constant motion would keep us warm in the freezing water. The cheap foam soaked up a few gallons of the ocean and made the football weigh several pounds, which was painful to throw and catch. At the time, I didn’t think much of the wrenching sensation heaving that ball around caused in my shoulder; I just figured I had a weak arm and a bad throw (still very true). Two days after our trip, I started feeling pain in my right shoulder. It was bad enough that I skipped my thrice weekly push-ups/back extensions/stomach crunches routine for that entire week, and when it still hurt a bit the following Monday, I skipped that week as well. (It was SUCH a hardship to avoid a set of exercises ...continue reading.

Race Report: Pangs of the Hunger

Posted on by lindsay
I had my last cross country race of the season this past Sunday at Quantico Marine Corps Base. Things didn’t get off to a great start in the morning; Bobby and I were late leaving the house, I chose the worse of two ways to get there and got us stuck in bad traffic, and neither of us had managed to bring the driver’s licenses we needed in order to get on base. By the time we pulled up to the race area, it was less than thirty minutes to the start and I had not even registered. I was stressed, but knew it was going to be a long race (three 9.5 mile laps) and that there would be plenty of time to warm up during the first lap. Intending to ride around for a few minutes after registering, I instead ended up riding to the start area and ...continue reading.

Race Report: It turns out that bike racing is really just about feelings.

Posted on by lindsay
It took a while to bounce back from the unmotivated, defeated feeling I had after Nationals; by a while, I mean sometime during the last lap of my first race at this past Saturday. The month between was filled with self-doubt, unhappiness, and lack of motivation – I was no longer confident in my riding, my ability to win, or whether I even enjoyed racing my bike. It seems absurd to have been thrown off so much by a single race, but Nationals was the culmination of a lot of internal pressure, expectations, bad decisions, and learning experiences, and it was difficult to decide where to go from there. I tried being stricter with my routines; getting angry and channeling that energy; going soft and taking time off; crying and talking to my sports psychologist; and period of uninterrupted sulking, but nothing got me where I wanted to be, which ...continue reading.