Here it is: the long awaited report from the sidelines of the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo.  Right…

I opted out of this year’s 24 hour race, deciding instead to “save my legs” or something like that, so I can fry some bigger fish later this season.  Anyhow, I could not miss out on the race entirely, so I signed up for team “support.”

Let me describe briefly some of the duties of a team supporter at 24 HOP.

First, things to pack:  beer, bicycle, beer, bandaides, beer, bags to put empty beer bottles in, and maybe some homecooked food for those who choose to actually take the race seriously.

Next, the duties of a team supporter at 24 HOP: drink beer, cook some food while drinking beer, stoke the fire while drinking beer, take pictures while drinking beer, wander around chatting with people while drinking beer, etc.

Well, I did such a great job as team support that the team placed 5th in the 4-men category with the grand total of 21 laps.  Some of you might remember that I did this race last year on the same team posed as “a dude named Mel”, and that we placed 5th then as well.  Guess the extra testosterone didn’t do them much good…    Nevermind the fact that some of the best male professional MTB racers in the US showed up this year and that the team did one more lap than last year.  Nevermind those pesky details.

Anyways, the final task of a team supporter at the 24 HOP is to sleep through the whole night, which is exactly what I did.  I didn’t mean to sleep all night, it just kinda happened…

I mean we had some sweet digs and some good homebrew, what’s a girl to do?

The team did great, not to mention they were the most aerodynamic crew out there.  Yes, AERO MAN is holding onto the crown of his fork.

AERO MAN!!!!!!!!!!

Hayduke joined us this year as the official team mascot.  I like his style…

There was a pirate on the team…argh, matey.

And like I mentioned earlier, the team placed 5th.  Yes, the Amazing Star-mumble, mumblers-presented by Leroy Jenkins (as officially announced at the awards ceremony) placed 5th.  Congrats, boys.  What a crew.  I bet they had great race support, they look so stoked.

In non-24 HOP related news, I am back to training pretty much full-time.  I did a great 4.5 hour ride today with some of my teammates (both Specialized and UA Cycling).  We started out with the Shootout (and I lasted longer than last week, which was pretty sweet), then rode the TBC course, and back to town.  I had a fantastic blow-out at the end of the ride, and the force from the air pressure coming out of my front tire literally knocked my head back away from the bars.  Awesome.

My knee is getting much better, and I am getting a lot stronger.  I have been lifting with Jesus (not that Jesus) of Bodyfit in Tucson, and he destroys me every time I show up.  Do 150 squats.  GO!  Anyways, he has been great, and I am getting stronger all around…I even have these cute little biceps developing and even some abs.  The first day I saw him, he told me to do some cruches, and I made some lame excuse about being a cyclist and not having any abs.  He informed me that one should not confuse a little flab with not having any ab muscles.  So he was basically saying I have some muscle, right? 

Finally, check out my new team website – www.womensbiketalk.com.  It’s still under construction, but it should be pretty cool once we get it rolling full time.

Ok, nap time.  Thanks for reading.