NEW SITE

My NEW website is iviecrawford.webs.com

It includes a blog, photo albums, a calendar of events I will be at, and a contact page.  I will no longer be using this site/blog.

Please visit:
iviecrawford.webs.com 

Bike MS 2011

The first weekend of this past month.  A great weekend, with amazing and inspirational people, All working for and helping out a great cause.  I am so glad to be part of a team that makes it their mission to help others and find a cure the awful disease of Multiple Schlorosis.  I look forward to doing this ride and supporting the cause for years to come. 

Here are a few photo highlights:

CIRCUS THEME YEAR



NOW Energy Bars there to SUPPORT



POST DAY 2 MASSAGES





LIVE AT THE GREEK: BELLYDANCING!!   WOO GO PHIL

Interbike 2011

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I didn't have anything that I felt majorly important going on, but this last week has had much more.

I went to Interbike, an international bicycle convention, in Las Vegas. I was helping out at the NOW Energy Bar booth. It was a very different experience from last year. I was not there just to look at the various exhibits, but I was there to promote a fantastic product! But I still had enough time to see the other booths.

As we gave away free samples of the bar, and some towels, I found it fascinating the reactions of people to free stuff. Some were very enthusiastic, and could lead to future sales. But there were also many people who just didn't want something that was free! I thought it was human nature to take anything you can get for free, especially delicious and healthy food. I guess they had their reasons.

We also had Pursuit Gold Sprints as a part of the booth. That made the days extremely interesting. People challenging their friends to race the single speed bicycles 250meters. Each member of our booth had to race multiple times a day as well. On day 2 of the show, I raced a total of 9 times. A special shoutout to the Jet Cycling junior girls who came to race on day 3, bringing a large enthusiastic crowd with them. I love you Milliegoat Tanner and Laurel Rathbun!

Overall, a great three days with great and like minded people! Next week is the MS Ride SoCal edition. Will be there with the NOW team, although we will be missing a few due to Elite Track Nationals. Posts and pics to follow.

Colorado Trip Part 1

===Day 1: Wednesday July 27: Just arrived in Colorado.  Staying tonight in Castle Rock, and head to Estes Park tomorrow.  Once I got here I was anxious to ride, so I went out on my bike before we were even settled in.  Being the first day at altitude I knew to keep it easy.  Did an one hour ride at medium pace.  The area I found was gorgeous.  I did have one big effort though, at the turn around spot.  There was a large dog that spotted me from 50 yards away, and turned aggressive and chased me up the hill.  I nearly missed being bitten.  Now it would have been easy to get away, if I were not a total sucker when it comes to dogs.  It was super cute so I hesitated in my movements.  True story.  
===Day 2: Thursday, July 28 Family went white water rafting near Fort Collins.  Was super fun and tough.  The excursion took us over many class three and four rapids.  Rapids range in categories from 1 at the easiest to 5 at the hardest.  We went through them pretty easily, with only one of our boat members swimming in a class four.  Definitely was a core workout.  Due to that taking all day, I did not ride today but plan to tomorrow, and want to do a long day on Saturday.  Having a great time out here, and not as affected by the altitude as I have been in the past.  Adjusting easily.  More tomorrow.
===Day 3: Friday, July 29:  Went on a long hike with the family this morning.  The views were definitely worth it!  The walk was very tiring, though.  In the afternoon I went for a med length ride at a good pace.  Went around the lake several times, and rode past the Stanley hotel (location of the Shining). Then we all went out for desert at a handmade ice cream place.  I got the delicious pecan ice cream, and for the second a mocha almond flavor. Yumm!!!
===Day 4:  Saturday, July 30:  Rode into boulder, from Estes.  Met up for breakfast with Brittany Marrans.  It was pretty bomb, and I was super tired from the ride, which hurt due to the altitude/hike/river rafting combo.  Was pretty stoked to be in Boulder, it is way chill there, and I see why it is the cycling capitol of the USA.  Although, I was really freaked by all the grasshoppers in the surrounding land.  They really suck.
===Day 5: Sunday, July 31:  Rode a chill ride in early am, then family photos (which are impossible).  Not to mention we had an incompetent photographer.  After that it was time to leave our stay in Estes, back to Castle Rock.  On the way there we stopped again in Boulder, and walked around a bit, and drove around the campus.  Cool stuff.  Tomorrow riding with Laurel Rathbun of Garmin-Cervelo Junior team.  This is turning out to be a rad trip.  I am pretty much adjusted to the altitude, meaning I am back to a relatively normal recovery rate, and not gasping for air.  I am actually a bit surprised at how well I recovered from yesterdays ride.

Day1: On the Road

Day3: Part of the hike: Emerald Lake

Day 3: Part of the Hike

Day 5: Estes Lake

Day3: Part of the Hike: Dream Lake

Colorado Trip

I will be headed to Colorado this coming week and will be doing some riding up there.  I will be staying in Estes Park, 35 miles North of Boulder, for the majority of this trip.  I will also be heading to Colorado Springs, and Durango for a few days each.  
Will keep constant posts on this trip, the riding there, how the altitude affects me, and constant pictures.  Should be pretty fun :).  Looking forward to some high quality training, and spending time with friends and family up there.  
Tata for NOW

Colorado Trip

I will be headed to Colorado this coming week and will be doing some riding up there.  I will be staying in Estes Park, 35 miles North of Boulder, for the majority of this trip.  I will also be heading to Colorado Springs, and Durango for a few days each.  


Will keep constant posts on this trip, the riding there, how the altitude affects me, and constant pictures.  Should be pretty fun :).  Looking forward to some high quality training, and spending time with friends and family up there.  


Tata for NOW

Ontario Tuesday Night Training Crit 6/7/11

Race Report

Yesterday Majestic cycling put on their first race in the Tuesday night summer upgrade series.  I went into this race treating it as training and a "F" level race, although knowing if I got upgrade points that would be awesome.  The W3/4 field consisted of 11 riders.

I had the intention to attack every other lap, until either I succeeded and got away, or the race was over.  The race got off to a descent start for me, placing an attack on both the first and second lap.  However, the other racers were content to do nothing, yet they would not let anything get away.  Very negative racing style.  Everything I put out was quickly chased down, and on a windy and technical course getting away can be difficult.  Finally with two laps to go, I had just been chased down, and was blocked in, in third position.  A girl who had been dropped early on, caught back on, and then just sat in the group, went up the road.  I was blocked in, and no one else seemed to have any desire to respond.  In fact they sat up. 

As soon as I had a clear shot, I attacked again to try to bridge, but it was too late, she was too far up the road.  Being slightly up from the others I had to try to hold my position to the line.  I had to suck it up and give it my all.  I was nipped right before the line, and managed to hang on to third. 

I made the racing tough for myself and am happy with a third.  But next time,...

Always, Ivie    ~ <3 ~

In Memory of Wouter Weylandt

In Stage 3 of this years Giro d'Italia, a tragedy occured and we lost a great rider and racer, Wouter Weylandt.  It always is horrible for anyone to crash, and even worse when it ends like this.  Sadly this is one of the risks that comes with doing this dangerous sport called cycling.  Luckily these events, within racing situations, are few and far apart.  There have only been four fatalities in Giro history.  Every rider knows these risks, and we all choose to look past them, or no one would ever be racing in the first place.  "If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on." - Lance Armstrong.  However it is always sad to loose someone.  

I was glad about how they handled the stage following this distaster.  Being neutralized and having Leopard Trek ride the front for the last 3k, accompanied by Tyler Farrar. 

I give my sincerest condolences to the friends and family of Wouter Weylandt.  You will be in the thoughts and prayers of all those who ride and race, or are related to the sport in any form. 

Photos from CBR 4/10/11

Here are a few photos from this past CBR.  Where the NOW-MS Society Women showed up to defend our teammate Louise Keoghan's lead in the BAR Series.  Was a successful day, with two podium finishes for us.  Erika Graves in 2nd out of the break and Louise Keoghan taking 3rd by winning the field sprint.

Louise Keoghan being her cheerful self :)

Lauren Liscinski and Julia Lafranchise pin their numbers

NOW Bar tents and car

"The Boss"

Donating Blood

Giving a pint of blood is not the best thing to do during the racing season.  In fact it is probably one of the worst things.  I gave blood at the schools blood drive on April 16th, and have been kicking myself in the butt ever since then.  All my top end is gone, at least I have lost 5% of my top end power.

Been doing some research since then, and this loss of power is typica.  The red blood cells will be fully replenished in 4-6 weeks.  Iron is a key component in helping replenish these cells, so I have made adjustments to my diet to include foods rich in iron.

I will be back on my game soon, until then I have decided to take a small break from actual racing.  Still training, just don't want to race when I know I will not perform to the best of my ability.  My first race back will b Dana Point GP on May 1st.  That is plenty of time to regain my power lost from having the red blood cells back in my system.

March 5-15

What a start it has been to this new year and racing season.  Getting to truly compare how your training throughout the winter and off season matches your own power output to that of the other riders, who might or might not be planning to peak early on in the year.


My personal goal is not to peak for the beginning of the year.  If I want to be racing strong in June and July I do not need to worry about these early season races.  That being said, I feel like I am stronger at this moment than I have ever been.  Riding the velodrome, on a regular basis, has helped me develop an actual sprint.  I also have been exploring the hills a good amount this winter, and hope to continue to do so.

These beginning of the year stage races should have been great for training, but due to unforseen circumstances in a couple of them there were a few weeks of essentially a wasted weekend.  But this last week of Murrieta and the coming San Dimas Stage Race should be great for training into the lactate and aneorobic efforts that'll be needed vastly later in the year.  These races, though, have helped me to learn what my current strengths and weaknesses are, -- they have changed since last season. 

I just started on my new sponsor bike, a Specialized Ruby.  It is AMAZING!  I look forward to winning and helping my teammates win on it throughout the year.  This is going to be a great season.  Look out for the NOW-MS Society Women; as this is OUR year.

New Year, New Goals

It is officially 2011!  The start of a new year comes with new goals and a desire for excellence in the 365 days to come.  As our culture has established, we all tend to set goals.  Some of my personal ones are to graduate high school, gain my Catagory 2 upgrade on the road, and race and train to my fullest potential with the NOW-MS Society Elite Woman's team.


Here is some of what I have been thinking about these past few days.


Sticking to these goals are not life altering and spur of the moment decisions, as seems to fit the persona of a vast amount of "New Year's Resolutions".  And since most of these resolutions are not well thought out and/or not sought after with complete dedication, they tend to fail.  It is a sad, yet accuate, truth.  Only those who have a good amount of self-discipline can stick to a major change for a resolution. 


My philosophy on how to make a resolution stick is to go with something minor.  If someone ate fast food every day and hardly excercised, instead of saying "I can not eat anymore fast food, and I'm going to go to the gym three times a week" change to "I can only have fast food 1-3 times a week, and Im going to walk my dog for 30 minutes 2 times a week."  This type of resolution is more likely to suceed, therefore getting you closer to your real goal of better health.  In the first example, the person cut them off from their bad habbit "cold Turkey"; very few individuals can actually pull this off for the long term.  What typically happens when you do this is you will succeed for a minimal amount of time, but then you will start to feel deprived of the item, or habbit, and sneek back to it and eventually end up worse than how you started.  Taking the transition slowly will increase chances of longterm success.


Another way to have a goal come to reality is to set up a plan for it.  Instead of only having a vague goal, create steps that will lead you to success.


These are just some of the thoughts that I have been having these last few days.   I had noticed the tendency for the "New Years Resolutions" to fail after the two week to one month period of time.  I don't think you have to let your goals not come to reality, and keeping them realistic and creating steps will help you achieve them.


Please let me know any experiences that you have had with previous goals and current ones.  How you made them succeed or why they didn't.