A Long Way

For those that don't know, my first lap ever around the Veloway was less than 2 years ago at an Iron Chicks workout. Desiree Ficker was my bike coach, and she stayed with me for a whole loop as I tried my hardest to make it around on Phil's old mountain bike. I had lots of bike problems, coupled with inexperience and fear. When we finished the lap, Desiree told me to go home.

I was so upset and frustrated at the workout that I cried all the way home, and then threw my bike across the front yard. I remember calling my dad to tell him how awful my first bike workout was, but that I would soon look back and remember how awful I was feeling and appreciate how much progress I would make. (I'm amazed I could think like that at the time!)

Two year later: I had the most awesome bike workout last night. As I've mentioned, I'm getting much more comfortable on my bike and even looking forward to the workouts. Last night we essentially did a time trial - seeing how many laps we could go around the Veloway in 45 minutes. After staying right behind Laura & Kris for the first lap, I took the lead and amazed myself at how great I felt and how fast I could go (and maintain.) For 45 minutes, I felt like a true and honest cyclist. I felt comfortable with my bike. Experienced. Fearless.

The icing on the cake was an email from Panther this morning that included this:

"Amber is kicking some serious ass. Tonight, at the Veloway during our crit, she was SPANKING these 4 dudes, who were not slouches. They were serious cyclists, and 2 of them even had the same jerseys on....so they were part of a team. She was out in front, and these guys were PISSED off that they were being spanked by a girl. It was awesome!! I came up from behind them and saw them all behind Amber, and you could tell that they were working SO HARD to try to catch up to her and try to look cool, but they just couldn't do it. She rode them off her wheel, and that was it. That really was one of the proudest moments I think I've ever had as a coach."

Ultimately, I don't really care about racing. What I really enjoy is the training. And it's the workouts like these that make all the training worth it.

I've come a long way.