Bike Favorites!

I love to ride my bike.  Most of the time my biking is the strength that can save me from a sad sad swim in triathlon, and in the fall when I am very bored with triathlon  I LOVE to get dirty and race cyclocross.

Here is my long over due post on bike favorites. Favorite bikes, bike workouts,  places to train and race on the bike. I'm not big on knowledge of gears, bike components,  but I will share what I love and works for me.

Favorite Bike:

TT bike: that would be Scotty P. The Scott Plasma Premium. This is my second Scott plasma. It is smooth fast and of course looks great. I loved it so much the first time I went back for more! He has given me numerous fastest AG bike splits over the past 2-3 years which have helped me get to podium finishes.

PLASMA helps me go fast

Cyclocross Bike: my Cannondale Super X!  super light to fly over the barriers , extremely cool looking (of course) and fast enough to help me survive in  a few UCI races with the pros.

Place to Ride (non-local)= countless, but Tuscon Gates Pass and MT Lemmon rate at the top; Clackamas  Highway from my parents house in Oregon, and 6 Gap Ride in North Georgia are my favorite epic rides. Notice the theme with these rides, that would be hills, mountains and tough terrain.

Place to ride (local):  Campton Hill repeats just 5 miles from our house.  My favorite killer local workout is one from a previous coach Simon Thompson, Thomo. The workout is:
 ride easy to the hills;
Then do 2 x Campton in Hard gear low cadence, 2 x Town Hall all out....recover on the down hills and repeat entire sequence 3 x. OUCH

Triathlon Race, Bike course: There have been many favorite courses over the years. I loved the ITU Worlds multi-loop hilly course in Switzerland, except I got a flat. Recently my favorites are St. Croix, because I loved attacking the Beast and climbing all the hills after that no one talks about. Vegas World Championship course is also a favorite because of hills heat and heavy competition.

The start of the BEAST

Cyclocross Race Venue: Madison Nationals 2011 hilly, some mud and suprisingly warm for January, and locally Campton Cross, tough home course with the addition of Halloween costumes

CX Nationals 2011, race was surreal

Nutrition on the bike: power gel, green apple, and powerbar lemon chews. Not only are  the packages are the easiest to open while still hammering down the road; they taste great and go down easy and keep me rolling along

Bike Experts: The Bike Shop, Glen Ellyn. The carry the best stuff, (Scott bikes !), and  Rich and Drew have helped keep my bikes working to perfection over years.

Recently I had the chance to be re-fit on by bike by Nes with StudioDNA. I hadn't had a complete bike fit for a few years and the new position is awesome. I truly believe part of my hip injury last year was my bad position on aero.   Having your fit dialed in can not only keep you from getting injured, but can keep all your parts comfortable and give you more watts and power

Nes, working it

Happy Riding!