I'm overdue about eight race reports...but suffice it to say that if anything truly amazing had occurred, I would have updated my blog far sooner. Really, there are only a handful of things worth note:

1. Drove to Lawrence, Kansas to race with teammate Cait Silovsky, shown below. I was having a pretty solid race, too, until I laid down the bike around a corner with two laps to go and decided to walk before getting pulled. Bummer.

2. Raced a few smaller, local crits where I sucked hard. It’s easy to look at all the super fast girls at races - with their ridiculous abs and envious race finish times - and aspire to be like them. That's the time to nut up, quit sulking, and remember why I got into this sport to begin with: to challenge myself, control my blood sugar, and to have fun. Of course, suckage is not always a good time, so I'm working on that.

3. Had a pretty fair race at the State Championships a few blocks from my house (so I didn't even have to wake up early), and my legs felt remarkably good the next day. So much so, that I managed a six mile run before seven o'clock in the morning. I believe this to be a function of the Lefthand Brewery Recovery Beverages provided at the event, living up to their billing as "recovery aids."

4. "Man Down! Man Down!" Same race, TT1 Elite cyclist Dan Schneider took a nasty spill on the third lap. My four year old got to see Dan before and after, and was totally impressed by the carnage and asked if she could take him for sharing.

5. Kept swearing that "this will be my last race of the season," only to get sucked in to doing "one more."

Dennis and I spent the July 4th weekend trying to get in some much needed training rides, only to find ourselves cycling amid a sea of bikes in downtown Boulder, where there are more obstacles on the streets than in a game of Mario Kart. I had to dodge opening car doors, gushing fire hydrants, texting pedestrians and bikers going the wrong way on one-way streets like vehicular spawning salmon. All thanks to warm weather and a ban on fireworks.

For his part, Dennis managed a nice crash last week then ended with him in a ditch, being awaken by an oncoming motorist. No broken bones. No concussion. But he did manage to aggravate a pre-existing injury which is now costing about $900 in physical therapy.

I'm racing at least one more crit before August. I should be able to finish with a respectable time unless my leg falls off or I get abducted.