Bonus post...

I solved Kyle's Rubix cube yesterday. Probably not worth blogging about, but I have been working at it since he got it for Christmas. I figured I would share my excitement.

2010...week 2

I can't remember if I put in my last post the fact that I wanted to try to keep my blog updated weekly. Whether I did or didn't that is my intention and I can now say that I have been successful for 2 weeks.

Nothing ground breaking to report. I started a new semester of clinical rotations. Over the next 12 weeks I will do 3 rotations, 4 weeks each, which are collectively known as my ambulatory block. The first of the 3, which I started yesterday, is outpatient internal medicine and I am doing it here in Iowa City. Then, in February, I will go to Davenport for a month for Community Based Medicine. Finally, in March I will do Family Medicine in Hiawatha.

Enough about ridiculus school stuff. Brian and Cara took Kyle and I out to try skate skiing today. It was a blast. It is very different from classicing. I fell down a lot and was pretty slow, but I could feel when I was doing it right and when I was doing it wrong...so now all I need to more practice. Brian is a great teacher...He doesn't give himself nearly enough credit. We really appreciated his help today!

In cycling news, there was a WOW meeting at Hopson's house on Monday. It went great and the idea of more Iowa City women racing seems like more of a reality and less of a dream. In other cycling new, I'm still not riding my bike. :(

Thanks for checking in!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year with lots of good friends. Happy Birthday again to Jean! We had a wonderful time celebrating your birthday as well as the new year! We had to take a rain check on the ski race today because like many others we have chosen to celebrate national hangover day on the couch :)

My next clerkship starts on Monday, so only a few more days of freedom. I am looking forward to starting a new semester and a new cycling season. I plan to make a conscience effort to update on here at least once a week.

Thanks for reading! Have a safe and happy New Year!

1st Top 10 in a UCI Race

So, I have neglected my blog for quite some time. Between my rotations and racing, there has been little time for anything else. Wanted to give up a short recap from Jingle Cross this past weekend. Friday and Saturday were a real struggle for me. We ran a lot more than I am used to. The mud was so bad on Friday night I had to take a bike every lap. Saturday, the mud was still pretty bad, but we were running through it more than we were riding through it, so one bike change turned out to be enough. Both days I finished 11th. One spot out of the points. I started to think I was destined to never make it past 11th, until Sunday when suddenly we were riding our bikes, not just running them. I had a good start and didn't try anything too stupid. After a lap or 2 I was locked into a pretty fierce battle with Marne Smiley and Kris Walker. Marne motored away, but Kris and I were back and forth for the last 2 laps. She would kill me on the flats, but I could always catch back up and then some on the climb and descent down Mt. Krumpit. On the last lap, I knew that I was able catch her wheel on the way up the climb, I would be able to finish in front and that is exactly what happened...I came out 8th!!!! I couldn't believe it. I wanted to know what it would be like to be 10th, but I made it to 8th!

This turned out to be a very tough weekend of racing. Meredith Miller just dominated and good on her for it. The Planet Bike ladies are a force unto themselves. They each podiumed at least once and there was someone from their squad that podiumed each day. The Velo Bella ladies were in great form as well. I had a great time battling Holly Klug, Marne Smiley, and Kris Walker.

Good luck to all of you ladies headed to Portand for the last USGP race and to Bend for Nats. I wish I could be there slugging it out with you!

New Rotation

My first rotation (Neurology) ended last friday (July 24th), and after an eventful weekend with Kyle's folks in town to help us paint our front porch, I was off to my next rotation, Psychiatry. This rotation, like the last, is 4 weeks long. I am doing this first week on ECT (or electroconvulsive therapy) and then the next 3 weeks on med psych. This week has been a great experience. I am working with Dr. Jerry Lewis. He has allowed me to get a full range of experiences with the ECT treatment and with following his patients in clinic. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this, but I can't complain. I don't foresee myself going into Psychiatry, but I am definitely getting valuable patient interactions that will hopefully make me a better doctor someday.

Scott County Park MTB Race

A couple of weekends ago Kyle and I had planned to do the WORS Sunburst Showdown race up in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, at the last minute Kyle could not go because of things going on with work, so we decided to race locally instead. The race we did was on Sunday (July 19th), the ScoCoPa Frenzy, and it is part of the IMBCS and the I-74 series. Some of the kids from the shop and the like were there as well, Nickski, Robnett, Nate, and Cara. We were all decked out in the new Geoff's kits (all except Nate that is), I was the only one in red one though. We had a great time. The women went off with the men's sport field just 2 minutes behind. This was great in that we didn't have to fight them when the course bottle-necked into the single track, but it also meant that we had to go through the entire men's sport field. I had a great time though. All of the guys were great about getting over once they realized that I was the leader of the women's race. I took a heuge tumble on the first lap for no good reason. I just went from being upright one minute to endo and on the ground the next. No harm done though.

I finished 15th overall, but I think I could have placed higher up if I hadn't had to go through absolutely all of the men's sport field. Unfortunately, it just wasn't Kyle's weekend and he had to pull out of the race because of a flat. My girl Cara finished 3rd behind me and Beverly Winslow in the women's open race, so I was very happy to see her do that. Robnett finished 3rd behind a couple of Guiness riders and Nate now knows what it is like to be absolutely wrecked after a race :)

Good race...good people! Thanks for taking the time to put the ScoCoPa Frenzy together FORC!

Weekend of road miles and one of the strangest group rides ever...

Kyle and I had toyed with the idea of going to Clear Lake for the Bicycle, Blues, and BBQ races. However, this being the first weekend that I did not have to work since I stared my first rotation, and still having a bitter taste in my mouth from my abysmal showing at the state crit, we decided that long, hard miles near home would be best.

Saturday, we rode out to the state course, did a lap, and then rode back home. I have not felt that tired from a ride in quite sometime. Then, Sunday morning, we got up early for a ride with some of the shop kids. There were 7 of us in all. It was pretty fast paced at time and the pissing contest started earlier in the ride than I had anticipated, but all-in-all we had a great time. We went out Sugarbottom, to Tiffin, then out Cosgrove over to Sharon Center and back in. Another 50+ day.

Since my first rotation started, I have struggled to maintain a riding schedule. I am starting to get back into a groove and this weekend was well spent not racing, but instead getting in valuable training miles. I am pretty excited about the Iowa State Road Race which is coming up in just a couple of weeks. I hope to be in a better place physically and mentally compared to how I was for the State Crit.

Somehow, I managed to be finished with everything yesterday by 4, which meant that I was able to get home in time to make group ride. Since we wind was out of the south we went out of town on Sand Rd. I kind of assumed we were going to Lone Tree, but we turned left and headed east on 520th St. The pace picked up with the cross wind and I was working harder than I wanted to ended up off the back just a little before Wapsi. I was not sure which way the group had gone, so I just turned south back into the wind at Wapsi and headed toward Lone Tree. I suffered alone in the headwind past Lone Tree and eventually made a right turn onto 660th. The wind was now at my back a bit more, so I picked up the pace. I made the left onto Utah and I see a huge group of riders coming at me. I realize that it is the B ride, so I quickly turn around and stick on the back of their ride, so I wouldn't have to ride alone anymore. We make the right turn back onto 660th (the way I just came from) and are almost back to Wapsi when a group of 3 riders turns and starts coming toward us. I realize that it is Hopsin, Fin, and another Mercy rider. As they pass, I decide to turn around again and get in with them. They were moving quite a bit faster than I had anticipated, but I was able to catch just after they turned onto Utah. Hopsin eventually upped the pace, which caused the 4 of us to start a rotation. We rotated solidly pretty much all the way back to 520th. At this point we see the the front 8-10 people or so from the B ride coming down 520th and our group of 4 became a group of 12-14. Amazingly, everyone continued to rotate and we maintained a nice pace all the way back into IC. There was a sprint for some sign, but since it wasn't a town sign or a stop ahead sign, I had no clue what we were sprinting to, so I just rode really hard like Kyle and I always do to the top of the hill. It was a very strange ride, but I had a great time. I hope I can make it out for more group rides in the coming weeks.