Local Treats!

Hello all!

I've been fortunate to enjoy a full two weeks at home in SLC!  My break from traveling has been like enjoying a delicious cannolo.  Yum.  A delightfully crisp little envelope of time, filled with tasty greatness.   Possibly sprinkled with awesomeness as well.  *It's me...had to get some type of food reference in here somewhere.  : D

My weeks' ricotta filling:

• The weather has been (mostly) awesome here in Salt Lake.  Sunny, green, perfect.

• Best friend from college moved out here to start the PT program at the U.  So happy for Katey and so happy to spend time with her again!  Let the crazy adventures commence. 

• Fun local racing.  Bear Lake Road Race last weekend was a good one with a strong showing in the women's field.  Unfortunately the race ended abruptly for me.  Similar to dropping your cannolo on the ground when you're three fourths the way done.  Forget about the satisfaction that comes with savoring that last bite, or in the case of Bear Lake, making it to the finish.  Flatted.  Spent some time with bovine friends on the side of a field and walked a mile or so before finally hitch-hiking back to finish.  
  

  

  Rainy and cold.  Thank you to Tom who gave me a ride back after my flat and blasted the heat.  

• Logging lots of solid training in on my sweet machine.  The STRADA SLR continues to perform like the rock star bike it is.  With my State wheels, Michelin tires, new Syntace bars and stem, Arundel bar tape and carbon cages, my bike is totally dreamy.  *Read:  Less like bragging, more like continual amazement and gratitude.  So lucky to be rockin all this awesome equipment and technology.  

Awesome riding in Utah these days

• My first SLC Bees game!  Really a fun time.  Lots of home runs and a hilarious food mascot race.  "Hotdog", "Ice Cream", and "Pizza" raced the perimeter of the stadium.  If you know me, I bet you can guess who I was rooting for.  Ice Cream all the way.  Ice Cream started out really fast though and blew up.  Or rather deflated.  Don't I know what that's like!  It's okay Ice Cream, better pacing next time.  Pizza was at a pretty significant mechanical disadvantage and had no chance of winning.  I think Pizza was a DNF.  Slow and steady, Hot Dog made it to the finish for the win.  

• More fun local racing at Sugar House Park.  Pretty neat to wake up in my own bed, make myself breakfast (cornmeal rye waffles with (MA!) maple syrup), do a little pre-race Millcreek climbing action, and then eventually make my way over to the park for the crit/circuit race.  Gorgeous day... albeit windy.  Again, a good showing for the women's field!  Exciting to see so many strong women out racing... and racing aggressively.  Went for, and won, the 50 dollar prime.  Had an Ice Cream moment when Tiffany Pezzulo rocket launched by me with a gnarly counter attack.  Plan7 and Ski Utah followed, so all major teams were represented in the break.  I couldn't help but hear the voice of Cosmo in my head, "And that's how the race was won."  If you've never checked out his site, here it is http://cyclocosm.com.I won the field sprint and then enjoyed some nice social time at the park with friends Katey, Lars, and Josh who came out to cheer.  Also in attendance and always fun to see was the Pezzulo fan club: Steve, Dimitri and the Woodies.  After refueling with Honey Stinger waffles (yes, plural), I made my way back home with the game plan of getting another hour and a half in like Coach Steveo said to.  Wasn't quite happening, so I pulled the plug opting for some homemade recovery popsicles instead.  Coconut...so refreshing.  1 recovery pop wasn't enough so grabbed some more as I rushed off to catch Matt's race with a quick stop at Tiffany's to deliver her a victory popsicle.

• Movie nights.  We went to the kickoff of the Summer Outdoor Movie Series.  Friends Melissa and Tim set up a projection screen in their backyard, get the movie style popcorn maker going, and tons of people set up blankets and chairs in their backyard.  Good weather, good people, good entertainment, and good snacks.  Good times.  

My little vacation from traveling is about to come to end.  Excited to head off to Chicago in a few days for the Glencoe Grand Prix!  I'll have great company too.  Vanessa Drigo will be guest riding for SKINourishment p/b Paceline Projects and I'm thrilled to be joined by such a talented and aggressive racer.  Vanessa races for Rose Bandits and has had a great start to the season with handfuls of top 10 results at these national crits.  Very much looking forward to having a strong teammate out there and thankful to Rose Bandits for letting her join me for this race!  Stayed tuned as SKINourishment p/b Paceline Projects rocks Chicago.  Charity rides, school visits, and some fast racing on the horizon.  

Thanks for reading!