Wow - hah!

Breaking news: good finishes for the Thompson et al. crew in Duluth

After a grueling TT our racers stepped out with some excellent finishes. In his Cat 3 time trialing debut, Jameson pulled off a respectable 12th place finish during the TT, rocking without the aid of aero wheels. Today, Jameson improved on that effort and moved up to 11th place overall after a mid race breakaway effort. The only U of M rider remained away from the field for over 20 miles and was caught just short of the KOM sprint. He finished strong in the field sprint.

John "Dad" Thompson pulled off an 8th place in the Masters field after a decade off from road racing. Attacking the field six times today, John attempted to bridge up to Dave Pramen, who was soloing off the front. Although unsuccessful, John "had fun" ripping his own - and his competitors - legs off. John finished 6th in the field sprint.

Eric "Sasquatch" Thompson started off his Minnesota road season with a 3rd place Cat 1/2 TT effort. The giant eighteen year old powered over the rolling sunset-laden course in Wrenshall, casting a foreboding shadow over his competitors. The road race witnessed a mid race breakaway and the subsequent reel-in by the chase group. The last lap proved tactically difficult as teams jockeyed against the cross wind. On the second to last stretch of road, Tim Mulrooney launched a formidable attack and was followed by Sasquatch. Sasquatch pounded up to Mulrooney and they worked together, pulling away from the main pack and finishing with a 26 second lead. Eric's second place finish upgraded him to a second place overall, tied to Aric Hareland in the time standings.

Mike Smith Mike II rocked. As usual. (I don't know much about their races, I'll fill you in soon).

I got home, womaned the kitchen, made some kick-butt chicken pasta and green salad. Tonight. Ice cream and Oreos. 

Peace.

Steph

Duluth

A memorial weekend escape from the cities. Jameson and I headed up from Minneapolis today to enjoy four days of racing at the Duluth Classic. Although I'm currently out of racing commission, I'm up here taking over general soigneur duties. Today I made dinner for the five men in the house. I felt like a regular house mother, and I got my old I'll-kick-your-butt Travel Coordinator attitude back as I fried the hamburger to bits. Maybe its just the excitement of boiling water, but I was into it.

I'll try to continue to update my blog more often now and give updates from this weekend. 

love steph

Steph's blog sucks...

Yes, that's what Andy Cruse has to say about my blog, and I admit, 99% of the time my blog is quite lame. Due to loads of school work, responsibilities as U of M Travel Coordinator and the start of the collegiate race season, I've just been too busy.

What's new?

Last weekend I had my first collegiate race. Because the Women's collegiate A field boasts a grand total of two competitors in the NCCCC, Kari and I got bumped up to Men's A. In other words, we both had a hell of a road race, especially when we got dropped by the men and spent every ounce of energy we had time-trialing into a 25 mph head wind. I'm counting this routine to make me super fast - or at least make me tough.

This weekend its off to Lawrence, KS for more racing and more hurting. The weather is supposed to suck (less than MN!!!) but still suck all the same. It will be fun having a criterium at 8am Saturday with a high of 39, rain and predicted "Heavy winds"...

love steph

The Hot List: Part I

Its cold outside, so I think that I should post about something hot. Not hot like hot chocolate, or Florida, or ovens. Those are boring. I'm talking about man-hot. Now, it would be really difficult to whittle down all of the attractive men in the world to one blog post, so I've decided to be a little more specific. The Hot List is only cycling inclusive.

So what makes a cycling man hot? So far I've got it down to a couple of qualifications. Number One: they have to be famous enough for me to find their photo on the internet. Number Two: they must be fast. Number Three: the headshot. Yeah, I'm a sucker for the tall dark and handsome, the cute smiles, and the podium wave. What can I say, I'm a chick who likes cyclists.

Man Number One:
Franco Marvulli.

Since I'm too tired to look up all his palmares, just trust me, Franco is fast. Partnered with Bruno Risi this fall during the European Six-Day season, the pair dominated almost everything. Last October when I was sitting in the infield at the Dortmund Six-day I got to feel the air that Franco moved. Let me just say it was some beautiful air.

Judging from the headshot that I've selected, the outside viewer might think, "Ok, Franco looks a little crazy, is he possessed?" And the answer would probably be yes, and the response something like, "Yes, he is possessed by riding his bike." But either way, he gets extra points for being tall dark and handsome.

Man Number Two:
Tom Boonen

So, like, there's this guy named Tom Boonen, and he's like... a sprinter!!! HeHE!!! I heard that he wins stuff... like green colored jerseys...

There's nothing like a pair of aviators to make a man look super-rad. (This picture is ridiculous, I know. It also doesn't accurately represent his hottness.) But even without the shades, Tom Boonen is a hottie. Even though this pic makes Tom look casual cool, I know he's all race-day business. Even I'll admit that I root for Tom Boonen during the sprint stages of the TDF just because I think that he's attractive. Tom is a blond, so he only gets two points for being tall and handsome.

Man Number Three:
Ed (Eric) Stewart

I know this isn't a head shot. Its a leg shot. But don't worry, Ed Stewart has got it goin' on from head to toe. With this little known shot of Eric Stewart only just making its first internet debut on my blog today, everyone should already know that Ed Stewart is blistering fast and smokin' hott. Don't you think that those legs could power him right alongside Tom Boonen? And haven't you heard what happened when Ed just merely winked at a crowd of admiring female fans during a cool-down ride after one of his field-dominating performances? Yeah, all those women fainted. I heard that one was taken to the hospital. Long story short, every girl wants to be Ed's podium girl.

Well, this is the end of Hot List Part I. Hope you enjoyed it. Goodnight.

God jul!

Merry Christmas! (and Christmas means there is only one week until I am in Minneapolis...)

Norwegian Top 10 (in no particular order):

1. Bareback horseback riding. Yes, I have now officially ridden a horse. Without a saddle. And Ive learned that horses are very different than bikes.
2. My cousins. They speak better English than I do.
3. Norwegian Jul Services. I couldnt understand a word. I tried to sing, luckily it was loud so no one heard me butcher all the words.
4. Pepperkakke: crunchy gingerbread cookies
5. Saft: concentrated sugary juice drink
6. Norwegian Christmas Dinner: we had traditional roast lamb, chicken, potatoes, cooked vegetables and three courses of dessert.
7. Touristy Norwegian trolls. I got one for Christmas! They bring good luck.
8. Norwegian bike paths. There is a path on the side of every single road. I think that they run the length of the country.
9. The air. Its actually clean here.
10. The words GOD JUL. (MERRY CHRISTMAS). Sounds like gooo yoool.

and maybe a 10.5 - I think that Im going skiing in the mountains tomorrow. yay downhill!

Land of the Vikings...

Im in Norway, and Id say that its one of the most beautiful countries Ive ever visited. I flew in on the 18th from London. The plane landing was beautiful - the Haugesund airport is right on the coast. As we cruised in to the airport, I snapped pictures of the rocky little islands and watched the mountains in the distance. The rocks are bare and rugged - very similar to the Scottish highlands. There isnt any snow here, but its pretty darn cold. The sunlight situation is also a bit interesting. The sun doesnt fully come up until about 10am and it starts to disappear again at around 3pm. Therefore, Ive got a short amount of time during the day to get some sightseeing, running and bike riding in.

Now no blog entry would be complete without me raving about how great the riding is here, but really, its amazing. A trail system starts about half block from my relatives house and it winds up and down and through a forest covered mountain. The trees are absolutely covered in moss and there are lots of streams and lakes in the area. Every now and then I hit a waterfall. Im using a really fun steel frame bike that my relatives let me borrow. Im very grateful to have it, but let me just say that a rigid bike on these trails makes for some very rubbery arms and an exceptionally sore bum.

I went to Bergen on Wednesday with Solvi, and on the way there we got to stop and see their horses that they keep in a stable about 30 minutes away. I am not around horses often, and the size of their heads always surprises me. Its about half the size of my body. These animals are huge, and they were hungry. The little horse nibbled on my hand when I fed it. After the horses, we continued on to Bergen and drove onto a ferry to cross the fjord to get to the city. I hadnt ever been on a ferry before, so the experience was a lot of fun. I turned into a real tourist and climbed onto the upper deck to take some pictures. It took about 40 minutes by ferry to cross to Bergen - and Bergen is hands down the prettiest city I have ever been too. Everything was clean, stylish and manicured. The Norwegians have impeccable design style and the buildings werent overdone or gaudy. The city was perfectly laid out next to the Bryggen, or harbor, and the whole of Bergen is tucked inbetween seven mountain peaks. I took the Floibanen (a train-lift thing) to the top of one of the mountains to see the city from the top. It was well worth it. I did some drawings and a little bit of hiking, and left the top before it got to dark to see everything on the descent.

My relatives have been wonderful. The first night I stayed here it was my cousin Selinas birthday party and I was invited to partake in the festivities. Selina turned nine, so she had a little party with her friends and then afterwards all of the adult relatives came over for small dinner and cake. Now when I say cake, I MEAN cake. There were four of them. One chocolate with chocolate frosting, one with chocolate and mashed peanuts, one a traditional Norwegian cake with meringue in the middle and another with a graham cracker crust and a smooth gelatin top with blueberries and raspberries stuck into it. Needless to say all of the cake didnt get eaten that night, so weve been eating cake for the past week. But back to the relatives, I met too many people to remember all of their names, they were all very nice. My cousin Benedicte who is 21 has been inviting me out with her friends. A couple of nights ago we went to a cafe on the harbor and sat outside with drinks underneath heat lamps and blankets.

So far its been wonderful, and today I think that I will be going to a viking museum and maybe for a cruise on a big shipping boat out in the ocean... well see!

xoox
steph

I like this:

This is from the new Iowa women's team. I like numbers 1, 4, and 8. I'm not on this team, but don't worry Billy, I won't fire you.

Would you like to be a Punk Rock Woman? Simple... just follow these steps:
1. Train and race so hard you sweat, vomit, and bleed lactic acid.
2. Stand tall, stand proud, and be a leader in your sport.
3. Fire your coach and do it on your own.
4. Do it harder, better, and faster than the person next to you.
5. Host a race to benefit your cycling community, not its governing bodies.
6. Earn the win, and give your victory to a teammate.
7. Honor the finishers and call out the quitters for what they are.
8. If she defeats you, make sure she went through hell to do it.
9. Demand something better for yourself and all other women.
10. Never settle. Never settle. Never settle.

Number 10 also sums up my life. I've just realized that in my collegiate career, I've started out at a different college three years in a row. And this summer I'm thinking about moving to Seattle. Eh, Kari?