23.may.04

Big Bear STXC

What can i say????? Short track was awesome... My best finish in STXC, and it was 7th and Cindi sonewhere in the 20s(official results were not available at the time of this posting)! The pace was hard from gun, and i tried to stay in touch with the leaders as long as possible. I fell back to 9th, but worked my way past Gretchen Reeves and outsprinted Jamie Whitmore-Cardenas (two extremely fast and strong women!) to the line, not too far behind my favorite Pro, Jimena Florit (just to be able to say that is so amazing to me, and i must say that i owe all of my success to: my coach Daryl Saul, my ever loving and hard working husband, Troy, all of my sponsors, parents, brothers and fam). It was a hard fought race with a tough sustained rocky climb, and then a flat section that just hammered the already exhausted legs. The final two turns were on pavement sprinkled with gravel, making it a tricky spot, but that was where i made up a lot of time on the girls in front of me, made contact and then make some good passes. I felt so strong today, stronger than i did in the cross country. The crowd was great today, cheering and urging me forward. And i also must say that the peloton is a great group of women, being very supportive of me this weekend.

i have been spending the evening packing, talking to my teammates on the phone, and getting ready to drive out tomorrow.. by myself, as Troy flew home tonite.

I went out and decided i needed some french fries. It was funny, because i love fries, but after eating about 10- i was done. i thought i would reward myself for all the hard work and deprivation so far this season. but it just wasn't satisfying. what satisfied me the most was orange juice. lots of OJ. sweet, and tasty.

So wrapping it all up... and more detailed reports will follow.

in the meantime- thank you all for your support... i love you all!!! it makes all the difference in the world!

namaste

tonya

23.may.04

Big Bear XC

The highlight of my day was starting on the front row in the cross country race. It was SO cool!!!!

Our team fared very well in the XC, Paula winning her class (11 year olds), Mary Carlson placing 3rd, Kristi Henne 6th in JrX...

and Cindi was 30th in the Pro class, I was 11th.

The Pro race started with a parade lap, which was pretty cool, and made the start a little easier than usual.

21.may.04

Big Bear Time Trial, Stage 1

My first ever Top 10 is a 6th place finish... in the downhill Time Trial event at Big Bear. 5.2 miles of downhill, with a fair amount of climbing!

Yesterday, I was able to get 3 runs in on the chair lift, in order to ride the course- i knew this was my chance to shine- and i would have to take advantage of it. I was faily confident going into the day. i have been racing Pro cross country for 4 years now, and i know my skill set. i know i am better than most in the technical riding. And i proved that today with a great finish- not even 1 second- 7/10ths of a second off the podium (which is 5th place).

I am very happy with my ride today, and know that tomorrow is going to be a tough battle of climbing. It will be back to normal, and I will have to work hard for my place. Sufferfest is too easy a term to place on the cross country race. But i am looking forward to see how things pan out. A lot of girls who have not placed in the top 20 are going to have great races tomorrow, - it's anybody's race. For the first time in my 4 year career, i will be on the front line at the start, and i am so happy to have this opportunity!

Cindi had a great race, but her XTR shifter got stuck and she couldn't get up in to her big ring for most of the time trial. She passed a few girls on her run, still, and had a great finish.

After our race, we did a photo shoot with Cannondale, look for us in the 2005 Cannondale catalogs!

Tomorrow is XC for everyone, Paula our girl from Guatemala, Kristi, Junior X, Mary, expert, and of course Cindi and i in the Pro race. Jessica made it to Big Bear today, and her marathon race is on Sunday.

Stay tuned for more!

tonya

18.may.04

Big Bear Race Report: Tuesday, getting into the swing of things...

Hangin at the Bear. It's a day to relax and rest, acclimitize and prepare for the big stage race ahead. We settled into the A frame today. Casual lunch and coffee, grocery shopping- no good seafood here, bummer! But lots of great stuff available. The weather is a little cooler than i like it to be, but you can't complain about those California skies... clear blue, crisp clean air. A far cry from the cauldron of brown air and "june gloom in may" down below in helLA. Give me the mountains, thank you very much!

cindi chillin in the Cali sun

Yesterday, my buddy Hector drove me up the hill, and we hit the Santa Ana River trail. it was beautiful and inspiring. Except for the dying forest- due to draught and bark beetles. But the spring flowers are in full bloom, birds singing, and it's a beautiful place up here! We ate at Maggio's for dinner, the local yocal pasta/pizza place. Troy arrived around 4, and that's about it.

tonya and cindi get ready for a spin around the lake

Today was an easy spin day. Cindi and i cruised the backroads around the lake at an easy pace, just flushing out the legs and getting them ready to rock. Tonite, more relaxation and our buddy Hector comes up from the cauldron to have dinner with us. Well gotta go get dinner ready! have a great day! namaste tonya

tonya big ringin' it in the stxc

pro women's stxc start

cindi hammering in the short track!

tonya napping before the stxc

tonya behind the tape

tonya making cookies for announcer Larry Longo... and others!

Troy building up his new frame

The parade lap... front row!!!