All Good Things Must Come To An End

Posted on by Lindsay
I'm sitting outside for one last sunset in Tucson before leaving for California tomorrow. From one perspective, this trip has been one long series of goodbyes: I said goodbye to home, goodbye to each new place I discovered along the drive across the country, goodbye to Andrew and many of my teammates at the end of camp, and now I am saying goodbye to Tucson. This place has become home. It's missing a few critical things - Andrew, my parents, the pets - but something about it has stolen my heart in a way that will never be undone. When I am alone on the side of Mt. Lemmon looking at the vastness of the hills and the desert while the wind blows, I feel the happiest and most alive. It's not the coffee shops or the great tortillas or the other cyclists; it's just the desert and the mountains and the way the sky is ...continue reading.

This is how life looks right now

Posted on by Lindsay
Once upon a time, life in Arizona was so lovely and entertaining that I couldn't find the motivation to write a proper post. So here are a lot of photos instead: [caption id="attachment_5982" align="alignnone" width="600"] The Peppers rock. (Ha. HA. Get it?)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5983" align="alignnone" width="600"] COME AT ME, BRO[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5977" align="alignnone" width="600"] Our host here in Tucson shares a last name with Andrew and because I am simple, this is thrilling.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5973" align="alignnone" width="600"] Nothing is more terrifying then a chipmunk darting across the bike path when you're on the aero bars. They're everywhere out here and holy crap, they have huge balls.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5978" align="alignnone" width="600"] Learning to ride my TT bike one anxious grimace at a time. Then I finished 3rd in the Tucson Bicycle Classic TT and now I'm all WATCH ME ROCK THIS, I'M GONNA WIN THE OLYMPICS.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_5976" align="alignnone" width="600"] We don't mess around with getting to ...continue reading.

Pepper Palace: Your #1 Source for Awesome Sauce

Posted on by Lindsay
Andrew arrived in Tucson just over a week ago. I was nervously primping (because even though he's stuck with me for life, I don't need to make him regret that decision) when my roommate asked, "Do you have any clothes that aren't for cycling or the gym?" No. I have mascara and sweatpants. When he arrived, it was a whirlwind of activity for three straight days. I wanted to show him my favorite places around town (Stella Java, La Estrella Bakery, Mt. Lemmon, Time Market, Le Buzz...hmm, this list is rather food-heavy) and we also had to get all of the team bikes ready for camp. By "we", I mean "Andrew" while I spectated and offered helpful suggestions like, "How's my TT bike coming along? Will you be done soon? When can we go eat?" And then in no time at all, we were driving with Julie in a caravan towards the Phoenix airport to collect ...continue reading.

Reunited and it feels so good

Posted on by Lindsay
Life here in Tucson is great! I'm just sitting here at the kitchen table, stress eating and waiting for the locksmith to arrive. My car keys are missing and after ransacking the house and dumpster diving the neighbor's rolling trash can (try to look dignified while doing that), I've resorted to calling a professional. The $46 fee is spent at this point, so now I'm really hoping the keys are locked in the car. If not, I will be devastated that my keys are still missing because I will have no way to go buy the alcohol required to move past this. Other than the obvious, things are good. I did the famous Shootout group ride on Saturday morning and while I wanted to die a million deaths during the ride, my first thought after it ended was that I couldn't wait to do it again. Sunday was a sufferfest up Mt. Lemmon, noteworthy for the glorious ...continue reading.

Three cheers for not quitting

Posted on by Lindsay
If I could go back 12 months and tell myself something, I would say, "This season will not be what you expect or want, but it is what you need to grow up on and off the bike." If I could go back 6 months, I would say, "Don't give up (and stop crying, for christ's sake). Things are about to work out and this will all have been worth it." I might also recommend taking a pass on that bird tattoo. If I could go back 3 weeks, I would say, "What you are about to do will be totally worth it. This is what it means to live the dream." On stage 3 of Valley of the Sun, we pulled off a 2nd place finish for Sarah and a 4th place GC finish for Laura. The crit was fast and fantastic - it was too exciting for me to ...continue reading.

The Unstoppable Pepper Palace

Posted on by Lindsay
Today was the second stage of Valley of the Sun and, despite sounding like Louis Armstrong on a bad day and hacking up green blobs that deserve their own area codes, I am still in the race and happy about it. I didn't commit to starting the time trial until the officials pushed me off the start ramp and then figured what the hell, I'm wearing this ridiculous helmet and can always stop pedaling if things get really bad. But it's a time trial; if things aren't feeling bad, you're not going hard enough, and so I finished. When I wasn't feeling worse this morning, I decided to start the road race and then stop if my symptoms worsened. My symptoms worsened exponentially right about the time I followed an attack from Andrea Dvorak up the main climb (PAIN), and again when I made the break (MORE PAIN), but just when I was certain ...continue reading.