2009 TT Bogogno, Italy

Yesterday was the TT in Bogogno, Italy. It was a great course, corners, hills, false flats, downhill straight away. I had a good go ate it as well. Started the day off way to early, not having packed my bag until that morning. Made the mad dash for breakfast having to wait for 20 or so Asian Tourist. Departed the hotel at 7:15 for a 10:15 start. Greta and I were able to get onto the course to just roll a lap. Once we got back I found out that I was going out first in my class, meaning nobody to chase down. With that mess up I got to have Craig follow me in the car, thanks the lord Jeebus. Start went well, Greta had just passed the start for her second lap and I just went. Shortly after loosing sight of G, Sarah Story passed me and I paced off of her for a bit longer. I was having a good ride, trying not to over do it but not to slack off. I was able to take all of the turns with good speed at that, and then there was the stair step of hills. So the hills consisted of 3 minor climbs with the last two covering 1 kilometer. On the first hill I was doing great then I went to shift down to the little chain ring and my chain fell off to the inside because in my moment of no focus I forgot to shift the rear casset into the middle instead of leaving in the small gear on the inside. oops. That is why I am happy that I had a follow car and was able to get quick help from Chad who was riding shotgun for Craig. After that nothing dramatic happened and I rode like hell. I knew that I was behind at the end of the first lap so with encouragement from Craig over the radio I pedaled like crazy and mad up that time plus some more.
Un-factored I was 1st with a time of 32:30, Paula (New Zealand) 32:49, Barb 32:55.
Factored Barb move up to 32:04 and took the white jersey. Oh well I will make it up next year.
Greta got 2nd, Jenny got 2nd, Karissa & Mackenzie got 1st, Clark & Dave finish in 5th, Amazing, Craig V and Mike went 8th and 9th respectively. Good day for USA!!

Guess I am something

I had a really cool experience today and I am very proud of myself for it. While here in Europe I don't check my email much but try to do it daily. Well today I had a bit of a shocker, my third and never really even been used email account, allison@jonezyrocks.com, had a message waiting for me. I was completely taken aback but initially thought it was a system email from google or something like that. It wasn't though. A person, other then family, actual read my blog and bio. Who knew that I could be found. After responding to the email I figured two things were going for me. One was the fact that the money that I invested into my website and the many hours that my sister and I have spent on it was well worth it. The second thing is that since I now know that people, other then family again, are reading what I have to say, i thought it would be smart to step up my game on the blogging. So here it is, I am going to keep better attention to my website and to both blogs.

Italy...

I love Italy, even on the muggy days. It is beautiful here and the people are very nice. The scenery is amazing and I am glad to have finally made it here during the summer and see just how green it gets. The company is also awesome. There is a new guy, normally referred to the FNG, but he has out right skipped that position with how nice and professional he is. During camp I was the escape from his roommate and now he stepped up and has been my escape from my roommate. We are staying at a very nice hotel and the staff here are awesome. The seemed to have already forgiven us for the fact that we can not speak Italian and are butchering what every we try to say in Italian, ie Poste Cardo when looking for a postcard.

So far this trip has gone by way to fast with not much getting done. Craig G. has had us riding only once a day, what a concept. I am not sure what to do with myself during the rest of the day. I am definitely getting more and more anxious for the race and I have had to stop myself multiple time from trying to second guess what I should and shouldn't do. Some race tomorrow, Oz, Alejandro, David, and Anthony, while the rest wait until the following day to slay the course.

Why make things simple, it would be boring otherwise!!

A teammate of mine talked the other day about being in the moment. I understood the comment and the idea behind it but I don't think I have every experienced "Being in the Moment" outside of sport. Is this a bad thing? Am I not enjoying life to the fullest? Should I slow down and just focus on today, the moment?

I have been pondering this for the last couple of days and I think that I am getting a better understanding of where I think that I should be. I should be right where I am. I am doing what I love to do and living a life style that I am almost content with. I have a lot of ideas in my head of what I would like to do when I grow up and face the world outside of sport but I don't know if that world is what I am imagining it as. I have only a couple of friends that would carry outside of sport and I am willing, almost wanting, to make more. I am not sure what life has in store for me but I am sure I will enjoy the ride. I might be making some new radical decisions that will most likely shock the world for those that don't truly know me and what my desires in life truly are.

How do you call it the end when life isn't over yet? I know that I am ending one chapter in my life but I have always had two or three going on all at once. So with end of one why not start another or two. I know that I want to go back and pass the FE exam but I also have had some other prospect come into mind that I might go take advantage of. If I got my way I would live the craziest life style possible that I could live. I have no intention on making things boring or dull. Exciting, fun, and risk taking are what I have in store for my biography.

GS is ugly

As much as I try I just can't grasp GS. GS is not complicated but it frustrates me every so much. The crappy part is that I can't stand the passive nature of the staff. I know that they want to see us all succeed but at times I don't see the passion for the event. There is no energy in the way they critic, "It is looking okay." tends to be the common statement. The problem is that it isn't okay, I have to be beating the men on our ski team in order to be competitive with the Woman's world cup field. I am not there consistently and the staff seem to be in neutral with helping me out. I was skiing the drills awesome, there was little to no spray, shoulders level, movement in the leg, and and aggressive line. Now I am back to skiing like I did last year, stiff legged, tipped in, pinchy, and spray through the whole turn.

I hope that I can get it together by the World Cup Season. Slalom is up next in the camp and I am really ready for it and I don't want to go through the potential pain in my arm. I know that I can get through it with little worry but my thoughts are focused on cycling right now. I am excited about racing and am ready to crush the course. All is to be positive in my head and I am ready for it.

Questions

I have to propose a big question to myself. I am hoping that my coach will help me out in this decision. Do I stay with the ski team or do I go independent so that my cycling career does not flounder. After this last race, US Nationals/World Team Trials, I realized that no matter how much I tapered on the bike the training on the sis killed me. I am now questioning what my performance will be at the road Nationals/World Team Trials with yet another ski camp before the event begins. This is what is boggling my mind any help....

Mt Hood

So a lot has happened since I last posted to this blog. I went to Korea and Whistler with the ski team and Manchester, England with cycling. Cycling has been awesome this year with some new PR's in England which was amazing considering it was May and I had only truly been riding for six weeks. I enjoy the bike so much that I look forward to hard workouts. You can see the results even though you feel exhausted at the end of the day. Training has hit an all time high even though I ride the same roads over and over, there is something there that makes the repetitive rides enjoyable. After Whistler I hope to find the same feeling on the skis. Bliss is such a great feeling I want to experience as much as possible and in any way that I could.

Hood is has been amazing. This is a camp that has had an impact with the whole team. Everybody is make huge leaps and bounds with their own ski technique and working together as a team. The staff is also amazing this camp, there has been no wasted time with redundant drills, which are sometimes necessary. We are being treated like adults and the respect is a major two highway, where athletes are respecting staff, staff are respecting athletes, and athletes are respecting athletes. There are no true rookies here yet so we are not a full compliment in the house but we are a great group of veterens.

Training for me has been awesome. I am back in the stiff boot and I feel great. Things are finally going forward and I am not struggling against an unknown force. I am a bit excited that we are not doing Super-Combined, slalom is awesome but it takes a higher toll on my body and now I will have a better chance of being ready for Nationals in LA, ooh yeah forgot to mention that I leave for LA in a couple of days. Scary...

La Molina - World Cup

Hello All,
I have arrived in Europe, with no bags. I luckily brought my ski boot on the plane with me and extra under wear, thank God. I am excited to say that my clothes bag arrived yesterday afternoon and my speed skis arrived today. Unfortunately we race tech, ie Slalom and Giant Slalom, here in Spain. I am fortunately borrowing Laurie's skis until mine arrive.
On the flip side the mountains here in the Pyrenees are a lot like those of Colorado and Utah. There are pinny trees and great snow. The hill that we are skiing on was used for an Able-Bodied World Cup in December so it is phenomenal, steep and hard. We went exploring, I was on Stephani's slalom ski and Brad Alier's poles. The snow was soft on the rest of the mountain.
The hotel is fun, we have mini apartments with kitchens the size of what Haley's first New York City apartment. There is a workout out room that is very expensive, so I won't be going in there. The tuning is happening in the parking garage with giant heaters keeping everything warm.
We are racing Giant Slalom for the first two days then two days of Slalom after that. So for now that is all that I have, until next time,
Ali