Race Day T-Shirts!

This is the design for the RideOn team race day t-shirt for 2012 (I realize this is not the best quality, but you get the idea):

Each shirt is $10 and you can either get a pink or grey shirt. If you are interested (who wouldn't be?), send an e-mail to SAARideOn@gmail.com with the following information:

-Name
-Size (XS, S, M, L, XL or XXL for $2 more)
-Shirt Color

Orders must be placed no later than Tuesday, April 3rd by midnight. Payment will be due when you pick up you order. The date of pick-up is TBA and we will send you an e-mail about how that will work. Anyone can order a shirt so be sure to spread the word!

Can't wait to see you all in you're awesome RideOn gear at the Race on April 20th at 7:00 pm!

Pre-Quals!

QUALS ARE THIS WEEKEND and everyone is buzzing with anticipation, nerves, excitement and a little bit of fear. We have been working hard for months, and all will be put to the test at 10:50am on Saturday.

Quals is a nerve-wracking event, to say the least. All eyes are on you as you take the track, and although all it takes it four short laps and some clean exchanges, something we've all done zillions of times, the pressure is on as the fate of the rest of our team's Little 500 season rests on your shoulders.

On race day, a botched exchange may cost you to lose a pack or drop a few seconds behind, but there are countless other chances to make up for that one mistake. During Quals, it's do or die.

I'm scaring myself as I type this...YIKES QUALS!!

Last night our team was given the opportunity to do a practice Quals run. This was our only chance to get a preview for what Saturday would feel like; the track was all ours, the lines were drawn in the cinder, and Jordan Bailey announced from the press box.

We had spent most of track practice yesterday doing exchanges and almost-full-speed Quals runs, and were feeling good and ready to go.

Kelsey nervously chattered away about anything and everything, Mary did some pre-race jumping and stretching, and I tried to magically speed up the digestion of the Jimmy Johns sub that was sitting freshly in my stomach. Finally it was our turn, so we took the track.

I started us off with the pace lap, and all I could think was "Holy crap, am I going the right speed? Why am I going so slow? What am I supposed to do???" I had to remind myself that it was just another lap on the very familiar track, and everything would be fine. I rounded turn 3 and started to pick up my pace, and as I crossed the start line, the stopwatch started.

My mind was blank as my legs pounded out the quarter mile. Next thing I knew, it was time to exchange. Mary was set up just as she always was in practice, and I was going to bring the bike into her, as per the usual.

That's where things started to get messy.

For some reason, our exchange failed. I came in hot and a little too far outside, and we just didn't click. Mary went down pretty hard, but gathered herself back up like a champ and hopped on the bike to ride her lap.

Okay, good, we got the bad exchange out of the way, we can still recover this.

Mary sped through her lap, and brought and exchange in to Kelsey. Unlike the millions of beautiful exchanges before, this one didn't click either. Mary and Kelsey both took dives to the ground, and our bike flew through the air past them.

We were done.

A few minutes at the First Aid station, some deep breaths and a few bandaids later, we exited the track, Quals run unfinished, and took a seat in the bleachers to recap what had happened. After some discussion, we came to the conclusion that mulling over the video footage of our falls, breaking down every second of what had just happened, and replaying it over and over in our minds was not going to get us anywhere.

We all know how to do exchanges. We all know how to ride our bikes fast. Everything will work out. Thank goodness we had last night's practice run to get all of our mistakes out of the way. We have two more days at the track to fine-tune out performance before it's show time.

I'm 100% confident in our abilities, and can't wait to see how everything and everyone turns out on Saturday! It's an exciting day for EVERYONE, and hopefully we'll have the Hoosier victory over Kentucky on Friday night fueling us toward a victory of our own (knock on wood)!

See you at 10:50am at the track!!

Quarries Ride!

This week we've been so busy riding our bikes we've forgotten to blog! So coming up will be some updates on the rides we've gone on and the tan-lines we've developed!!

On Monday morning, Helen, Mary, and myself decided to go on a nice road ride toward the quarries south of town. First, we headed past Bloomington South High School and out Fairfax Road. We rode to the back of a neighborhood and parked our bikes at the edge of the woods. With Helen as our tour-guide/camp counselor we took a quick hike to the quarries that starred in the film Breaking Away. The day was beautiful and there were few clouds in the sky, so resting on the rocks overlooking the quarries was both relaxing and breathtaking.


After taking in the quarries for a while and thinking that this would be a lovely place to have a picnic at, we decided to head back out for the road. Heading out further toward Lake Monroe we came upon Ned's Sculptures (more details about Ned's fabulous art here) a lot filled with many colorful fiberglass animals. Of course we had to stop and take some pictures! Mary posed with the gorilla, Helen found a nice giraffe to hide under, and I posed with a lovely elephant. Ned offered to sell us some animals, but unfortunately we hadn't brought our bike trailers and could not tow any back :(


Jumping back on our bikes we finished our outward journey to Lake Monroe and took in the calm of this beautiful spring day at the lake. Anyone who has been out to the Fairfax State Recreation Area knows that heading into Lake Monroe is a pleasant descent, but heading away from the lake is a steady climb. While the climb wasn't fun, it was made easier by the rest we had just had and we all successfully made it back to the main part of Fairfax Road. The rolling hills we encountered the rest of the way back, with temperatures climbing into the mid-70s completed a perfect Spring Break day in Bloomington!

Reasons to stay in Bloomington during Spring Break

1) Track is open for 8 hours a day!!
Because of the limited track times, many riders miss the chance to ride on the
track due to class, work, and etc. With the extended track times, we will be able
to spend lots of time on the track!

2) We can have unlimited number of
riders! Usually, we are only allowed to have two riders at a time on the track (except
Laura Bliss, who is on Riders Council). We will have an opportunity to ride in
a pace line as a team, and avoid trainers/rollers while waiting for turns.

3) Exchanges, exchanges, exchanges! The
Qualification is the Saturday after spring break, and being able to practice exchanges
on the cinder track is a huge advantage.

4) Save money and save time! We won’t
have to drive 10+ hours back and forth with $4/gallon gas price. Plus,
Bloomington has been warm enough that there is no reason to travel for warm
weather.

5) Bike tan lines which are 100 times
cooler than swimsuit tan lines.

6) Bloomington is awesome when everyone gone! No
traffic, no crowded restaurants, and etc.

7) No extra 5 pounds from excessive
drinking for a week!

Please add to the list, this is all I can think of right now!