Too many titles

Posted on Jan 3rd, 2009 by

I've been lax in posting. I'd like to blame it on the holidays, but in reality all I've been doing is riding, sleeping, and working. I've written several posts in my head though, so I'll write about some of the highlights:

1) It's FREEZING out, always, and usually foggy. For the holidays, I got to warm my feet in front of a roaring fire:

zero emission fire place

Of course, the major problem with the cold fogginess is riding. Coming home from a ride to this lovely fire isn't all it's cracked up to be.

2) Chit chatting on rides: TCTMJ is thoroughly back in the saddle, which is great for me, except on those increasingly frequent occasions when he's chatty. I mean chatty like his internal dialogue, particularly about temperature, becomes externalized. This is VERY annoying when I'm suffering on some hill interval and he's just chitchatting beside me. It's especially bad when he says "Ok, is it time to go hard now?" @#&*@%^#!!!!

3) Group Rides: I'm not a fan of group rides, unless it's a race, super-hard group ride (ie: como) or a small group where everyone's doing the same workout. I can't keep my zones, you have to worry about avoiding people, there are too many egos. ugh. No group rides for cara.

4) Equipment: I have a bunch of bikes, but I'm mostly riding my winter aka beater bike right now. It sucks. it's heavy and sloppy and the shifting is awful. It makes me cry. sigh

5) Detox: The coffee detox is done. It's been almost two weeks and I'm over it. Soon I will have one. It will be awesome!

Those are some updates. My race calendar is finalized. I'll post some of that soon. Jan 16-19 is the Touchstone Training camp in SLO. Yay!

Tomorrow TCTMJ and I are riding in the Santa Monica Mountains. Let's hope I survive.

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Touchstone Press Release

Posted on Jan 3rd, 2009 by

Cara

Top Northern California Women’s Team, Touchstone Cycling, Announces 2009 Roster

Touchstone Cycling enters the 2009 season with an expanded roster and additional sponsorship. After an impressive 2008 season, Touchstone looks to increase their presence and podium appearances.

Kelly McDonald, 6^th in the Mogollon Road Race at Tour of the Gila and 9^th overall at Cascades, returns to the team and looks to add to her impressive NRC results. The 2008 Irish National Time Trial Champion, Olivia Dillon, also looks to build on a successful 2008 season, which culminated in her participation in the World Championships in Varese, Italy. Other returning riders include Holly Borowski, Jill McLaughlin, Maria Monica, Pat Ross, and Janeen Thorpe.

Touchstone picked up several highly talented new riders including Sarah Bamberger, who spent the last three years racing for Cheerwine and Beverley Harper, who spent the last two years racing for Webcor. Sarah’s contributions to the Cheerwine team amounted to over 75 podiums and 25 wins, along with the NRC team win for 2008. Sarah won five races in 2008, including the prestigious Nevada City Classic and the inaugural Tour de Nez circuit race. Beverley's career highlights include top ten NRC GC finishes and top three NRC Time Trial results. She was 7^th in the US Elite Time Trial in 2006 and 2^nd at the Masters World Time Trail Championships in 2007. Touchstone expects to benefit greatly from Beverley and Sarah’s racing experiences. Other new riders include Kristina Seley, Carol Irving, and fellow Canadians Cara Gillis and Megan Rathwell. This mixture of talented, powerful, and intelligent riders will make for a successful 2009 season.

Touchstone Climbing and Fitness remains the title sponsor, and Wrench Science continues its support of the larger roster. Additional sponsors include Velo Vie, Lezyne, Voler, Clif Bar, Williams Cycling, Fluid, Rudy Project and Psoas Massage + Bodywork.

Touchstone is also proud to continue their support of the National Ataxia Foundation and Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP). In 2008, team contributions from race winnings and personal donations totaled over $3,500 for the National Ataxia Foundation, and the Touchstone women raised over $3,000 for BORP’s cycling program, which supports athletes with physical disabilities.

Team Roster: Sarah Bamberger, Holly Borowski, Olivia Dillon, Cara Gillis, Beverley Harper, Carol Irving, Megan Rathwell, Kelly McDonald, Jill McLaughlin, Maria Monica, Pat Ross, Kristina Seley, and Janeen Thorpe.

Sponsor Websites: HYPERLINK "http://www.touchstoneclimbing.com" www.touchstoneclimbing.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.wrenchscience.com" www.wrenchscience.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.velovie.com" www.velovie.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.lezyne.com" www.lezyne.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.clifbar.com" www.clifbar.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.williamscycling.com" www.williamscycling.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.voler.com" www.voler.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.livefluid.com" www.livefluid.com; HYPERLINK "http://www.psoasbodywork.com"

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