Alison Tetrick Starnes

There is incredible support here at the Pan American Games Village Guadalajara 2011 and they are welcoming all the athletes with open arms.

Although they said it “never” rains here in October, it rained here for 2 weeks solid until today.  Yesterday we rode the trainers in the basement garage of our building.  It was good to flush the legs and the Policia Federal were entertained with the cyclists riding and going nowhere.  The USA Women’s Softball team was practicing in the basement as well, and I was slightly concerned about a stray ball flying over to our area.  What was more dangerous?  The great outdoors or the softballs?

It was so fun to see all the different athletes mulling around the village looking for their training of choice.  Did you see any sweet racquetball courts around?  Where is the nearest beach or shooting range?  Suddenly you aren’t so different after all.  It is completely normal to use a lightpole to stretch your quads or spontaneously do a yoga position in the grass, and it is appropriate to blow your nose somewhat discreetly if necessary yet no one judges if it wasn’t discreet at all.

Hello, athletes of all kinds.  Or should I say, Hola?

The lines at the dining hall were massive, but it was still incredible to take it all in.  Where World Champions and Olympic medalists all come together to eat.  Who was that guy?  Only the best in the world.  Oh, that’s it?

We decided to try to venture outside the Village today to flush our legs a bit, and were adopted by the Brazilian men’s cycling team, which then morphed into a group ride of about 40 riders from the Pan Americas.  I had to laugh at the crazy roads these people were used to navigating, and how we just took the on-ramp onto the freeway and proceeded to do a supported ride taking up most of the freeway towards Tequila, Mexico.  I guess I always wanted to go for a ride on the freeway, and that is one thing I can check off the list now.  Freeway group ride.  Done.  Thank you to the Venezuelan coaches for driving the support vehicles, and thanks you for my Zipp101s for not flatting on the treacherous roads that were taking no prisoners.

I made it out of the Village and made it back in, with some new friends, new appreciation for bunny hopping large holes, and of course the reality that there were in fact donkeys on the freeway.  Donkeys and bikes.  Yes.

What’s next?

What does it look like shuttling 6000 athletes plus 6000 coaches, massage therapists, mechanics, etc., to Guadalajara? Crazy. That’s what.
I was shuttled from a plane in Houston to join the most recent arrivals for team processing. All the athletes arrive to Mexico at different times depending on when their competition is, however all must go through Houston to be “processed” by the USOC. I was the “lone cyclist” for a couple of hours; and could watch the other teams arriving. Some are easy to indentify, and others are more obscure. When two striking 6’4” tall blonde women entered, I could easily put together the height, sun lightened hair, freckled noses, and Mizuno sponsorship to recognize them as USA Beach Volleyball. A rowdy group consisting of fun heckling, raw strength and thick headbands was obviously USA softball, but the quieter pairs of the archery squad and their hard shell cases that looked like violins were opposite of the cheery, sparkly synchronized swimming crew carrying what appeared to be hula hoops. What a wide variety of athletes, backgrounds, bodies, and personality, all coming together with the same focus, the same drive, and the same mission—to medal at the Pan American Games 2011. Wow. I am one of them.
Upon getting to the hotel in Houston, we were then escorted to our clothing fitting session which was a complete new Nike wardrobe. Khakis, warm-ups, tracksuits, running shoes, flip flops, sports bras, luggage, capris, shirts, and everything else you could want in Nike and more. Oakley made a special addition of sunglasses for us as well! It was a warm welcome to the Pan American Games as a USA Cycling athlete indeed! With the newly acquired duffle bag full of team issued apparel, we then went for photos, USADA, and medical before dinner. There was an early departure for Guadalajara as the teams were shuttled to the airport in charter buses to then do a painless process of group check-in, group security, and then onto a plane full of only USA athletes. There were signs in the airport, the hotel, and the plane congratulating us and wishing us well in our endeavors. Wow.
I am just trying to take this all in, and learn a few things along the way.
What have I learned so far?
The USOC knows that athletes are always hungry, and they do their very best to ensure we are always well fed with very little stress.
Cyclists by far have the most luggage. I came with 2 bike boxes. 1 wheel case. 1 check-in. 1 carry-on. 2 helmets. 1 backpack. The volleyball girls? Well, they didn’t even have to bring their own volleyball. Swimsuit and a visor and they are done. They giggled at my luggage as they explained to me all they needed could be brought in a 1 quart Ziploc bag. Well, played, ladies.
I was so happy to see my “team”. I have come to know USA Cycling as my family, and when they arrived, I was “home” amidst the chaos of the Pan Am Games.

The mountains were calling, and I had to go.  Maybe that was it.  Or maybe it was just altitude necessity.

Stolen from Pintrest...

Although I wished for an eternal summer, my altitude training was greeted with an early winter storm instead.  Yes.  8 inches of snow in October.  Who would have thought?  I am not much of a snow person.  I am not anticipating the ski season, nor did I want a reminder that winter was really approaching.  However, when given the chance to be snowed in, you don’t really have a choice, do you?

One day...and then...

The next day..

There was something I loved about the snow though.  The quietness it left on the landscape.  The stillness it brought around the house.  The fluffy transformation it did with the already beautiful mountain view.  All plans were thwarted, and I had to just wait.  Wait to be rescued.  Wait to ride.  Wait.

Donner Lake

I have never been snowed in, nor do I intend to on a regular basis…but there wasn’t an option.  I had to relinquish control and learn a thing or two about snow, myself, and improvisation.

What does a training athlete do when she is snowed in at her very own altitude training camp?

• Embrace it.  How often does this happen?  Hopefully not that often.
• Rest a day. Then you have to make something work.
• Get a trainer/rollers.  Thanks to Paco’s Bike and Ski Shop, I was able to get a little bit of “work” in on the bike, still leaving plenty of time to enjoy my snow day.
• Make friends with people with 4×4.  Reminded me of high school.
• Forage for food in the pantry.
• Consider yourself lucky you have a Peanut Butter sponsorship.  Because when you can’t make it to the grocery store, at least you have the sustainable energy of PB.
• Take the dare, and make a snow angel.  When is the last time you did that?  It brings the kid out in you.  Sometimes you need that.
• Craft a snowman.
• Challenge yourself to the hot tub/snow/hot tub/snow plunge and see who wins.  The nice thing about competing against yourself is that you are always the winner.
• Write thank you cards.  We have so much to be thankful for.
• Call your mom.  I do this every day, but why not?
• Work on your bikes. Thanks to Davis Wheelworks for the help with this!
• Read.
• Think. Ponder. Plan. You get the idea.

Take a dare.

Although there were probably millions of ways to enjoy the snow days, it also wasn’t the time to completely play.  There is still a focus required for the Pan Am Games.  One more race.  Then, it will be time to not only just enjoy moments like that, but also take out the Nordic skis or snowshoes.  Not yet.

I survived the snow.  And when the weather soon returned to its predictable state of warmth, it gave me more reason than ever to ride around the lake.  Look at the views, and be thankful for not only the beautiful day, but also the days leading up to it.  Some days are about preparation, and other days are about waiting.  The mountains reminded me of this, and I will be back.

For now…onto Mexico.

And by GF, I don’t in fact mean girlfriend, he is married to the beautiful Odessa Gunn, I do mean the Gran Fondo…

Don't tell Levi I am taller...

Where do I start with Levi’s Gran Fondo?  It was riding in the heart of Northern California, a cycling mecca.  I loved it.  I had been doing quite a bit of solitude training, and I welcomed the company, all 7500 of them.

Photo by Neal Rogers, VeloNews

Although the weather wasn’t ideal, the company was perfect.  It was another flawless Levi Leipheimer’s King Ridge Gran Fondo organized by Bike Monkey.  Thanks, Carlos and Yuri!

This event shows that cycling is not about bike racing.  It is about bike riding.  Bike riding is doing well in the United States, and let’s keep that passion alive.  It was incredible to see the people of all levels and abilities conquer King Ridge, Coleman Valley, and Occidental.  I was inspired by the energy and the enthusiasm.  Bike riding!?  Yes, Please.

Photo by podiuminsight, Lyne Lamoureux

Oh, and I was the fastest girl of the day.  I am not competitive at all.  I was fueled by the fantastic volunteers, the thought of the good food at the festival post-ride, and the incredible company I had along the way.  Thank you for giving me a breath of fresh air, although it was drizzling at times, it was a break from the solitude, a relief from the routine, warming to the heart, and a memorable day.

I better sign up for my spot next year!  Now, back to the focus, the altitude and the training.  Thanks, Levi for reminding us what is most important about the sport.  The camaraderie, the beauty, and the community.  I love to be involved!

Sometimes you just crave a change.  Whether it is a change of venue, a new haircut, or maybe you mix up your typical breakfast.  Change can be good.  It can be refreshing.  It can be revitalizing.  It can be just what you need.

I don’t usually like change.  I like my hair long.  I like my steak medium rare.  I like my same training routes.  That sounds awful while typing it out.  Call me a creature of habit.

That being said, change isn’t always a bad thing either.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.

I love the summer and everything about it.  I love the warmth and the sun ripened produce.  The other morning, I was shocked to smell that intruding fall scent.  Maybe it was the slightly crisper air, or the whiff of a smoldering fireplace.  Perhaps it was the changing leaves, or just that harvest feel.  Where you transition from watermelon to butternut squash.  Yet, I am going to resist this one.  I am going to live in summer as long as I can.  I don’t want the change in season quite yet.

I have one more race.  I want warmth, and I need altitude.

Hello, mountains.  Please give me summer for 12 more days.  Let me grasp on to the last little bits of that summer vibe.  That sense of freedom.  That sense of adventure.  And then, change it will be.  Change is always inevitable.

Me and Greg Lemond Photo by Garrett Lau

I got to ride with Greg Lemond last week at the Palo Alto Echelon Gran Fondo in support of the Canary Foundation.  Who is Greg Lemond?  Kind of a big deal.  He is a fan of my team, or so he says. Apparently he used to be pretty fast.  I am going to have to race him now…

I am going to be on TourChats with Neil Brown and Dan Wuori tonight, 6:00PST!

Join there!

Special gets are, well, me…and this “Joey” character that had a crazy cyclocross crash… Check out his video HERE.

All right, got to get ready for this one! Hope Joey is “ok”.

Preparation. Preparation. Preparation. Focus.

I tend to get a little focused sometimes.  Call me bullheaded, call me stubborn, call me OCD.  It just happens.  My vision becomes blurred around the edges, and a tunnel of clarity emerges.  Boom.  Laser focus.

As serious as this sounds, this can happen in numerous areas of my day.  Not only is it the obvious, like focused training, precise power, and specified cadence, it is also the not so apparent.

It is the planning for the post-ride meal, which always starts about 7 minutes into the ride.  What will I eat when I get home?  It is the constant creation of “to-do” lists organized in some sort of acronym.  What will I do tomorrow?  It is the obsessing over a lost shirt, or a misplaced key.  It is planning my ETA for each benchmark on my ride.   It is a quote that I heard that I need to ponder further upon to decide if it is in fact profound, or just plain wrong.  It is the introspection that occurs on a long day.  It is the excuses that come into your mind on a hard day.  But through it all, there is focus.  Laser focus.

Don’t worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself.  But you can still be focused.  Laser focused.

I have the Pan Am Games on October 16th.  Focus. Drive. A destination for the end of the season.

Now, what am I going to eat, again?

In case you weren’t in Vegas, and didn’t get the exclusive invite to probably the biggest party that women’s cycling has ever seen…just imagine…

There was a bit of an announcement…

Get excited for an incredible partnership and what the future holds.  Big things are coming, and I am along for the ride.

Team Exergy Twenty12

Although I did happen to get a video of my “sprint” on Monday, I opted to share the video of the podium with you instead.

We will save the sprinting show for another time, unless you happen to get it “live”.

It adds a little bit of “life” for you!  It’s like real life.  But maybe podiums should just stick to still shots!

Check it out HERE!

Amazing photo by Elizabeth Geer