cindysue on a Mountain Bike?

I was at the LUNA Chix Summit this weekend in Marin. Very inspiring weekend. Met the LUNA Chix pro teams (MTB and Triathlon) including Marla Streb and Allison Dunlap, heard the very inspiring Jeannie Rizzo speak (executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund), met the Orbea reps (they are our sponsor this year), and met a ton of very nice women who, like me, are part of the LUNA Chix program.

so, I took a MTB clinic with Allison Dunlap and the rest of the pro team. Wow! Learned some fantastic bike handling skills! Then went out for my first MTB ride. Up, up, up Tennessee Valley Road and beyond. I started strong, but eventually ended up walking my rented moutain bike in my road shoes up the hill until I finally gave up and turned around. Riding a heavy beast with nobby tires on dirt is very different than my orbea on the road. It was a rude awakening and quite defeating personally but I will try MTB again someday.....

Sarah (SadieKate) and I have been talking about doing a clinic that would teach you all some of the MTB handling skills that are transferrable to the road bike. I'm going to work with our LUNA MTB team to try and make this happen.....

back to work and thesis/studying. See y'all this weekend......

Cool, we might convert you yet.:) I've been soooooo wanting to take Alison's clinic with Western Spirit.

cindysue, I am SOOOOOOOOOO jealous! What a great experience!

Their pro team raced in the 24-hours of Adrenalin last year. They are so fast it's scary! Alison passed me on a mild climb and she just flew up the hill. Within 10 seconds she was a dot! In 30 seconds she was gone! And Marla passed one of my team mates (a guy who is a super strong descender) on a down-hill section like he was standing still.

Good for you for giving it a try! Riding a rented bike with road shoes could not have been easy!

OK, I'm getting back to work, I swear, but had to share:

http://www.velonews.com/race/mtn/articles/9626.0.html

I've posted a photo from the article. If you look to the far right you will see the famous TE galpals "Amici Veloci" jersey.........

also featured in that article is my teammate Sarah who is quoted and photographed making a turn in the clinic

CS- Great report and great pics! Thanks for sharing!

Now, girl,......GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE want you DONE with all that studying and writing so we can ride with you this summer!:p :p :p