Adventures of the Northwest

Track Heaven... sitting on Cloud 9 and loving it.

Jane and I decided to go for a road ride today. We decided we were also going to bring our track bikes - meet at Marymoor - and ride the track for a bit. Jane and I (although I already got a tiny taste of it on Friday) wanted to ride the track and experience it again after Alpenrose. When I got there Jennie Reed was there. If some of you don't know Jennie Reed she is a world cup champion, olympic medal holder just to name a few of many accomplishments. If you look closely she is listed under many of the 'track records' for the times in my Alpenrose Velodrome "Track Record" pictures. (My alpenrose velodrome adventure pics sent to people through ofoto - please contact me if you want to see them.)

I was so excited to see her as we have talked a lot this year when we've been on the track together. It is sometimes hard to talk to people, while working out, as you don't get a lot of time to 'build friendships'. The conversations always seem cutoff or short or 'impersonal' or more about just track. Anyway, we were talking a couple weeks ago and she said she'd be leaving prior to today for her travels. So I was shocked to see her out there and very excited. She is a real upbeat person and has a lot of knowledge about track racing. She's funny and easy to talk to - just real down to earth. Anyway, I was very excited and gave her a hug hello. She said with a greeting like that - how could she turn it down. Jane was just laughing and shaking her head... typical Molly, eh?!

We talked here and there while we were in the infield. Jennie invited us to do a couple last efforts with her. 500 m flying efforts. I'm no sprinter and of course, my legs are dead from end of year 'burnout'. I got nothing more to give so I didn't expect to be on their wheels. I took the back, Jennie in the front and Jane in the middle. WOW! Jane hit 36 mph on the jump. We jumped off turn 4 and the whole time she was only maybe 20 m off her after turn 2 until about 4 where it opened up a bit more. I couldn't stay on their wheels but I hit 29 mph. A number I haven't seen since the beginning of the season and/or being on JANE's WHEEL; nonetheless, doing my own speed. WOW! Incredible. I was soooooo excited!!! Anyway, it felt good. Then she showed us how to do track stands and Jane and I were doing it; albeit, sometimes only for a few seconds. It was awesome.

Jennie asked us if we wanted to go for lunch and invited us over to her place. I just returned from there. It was nice to sit with her and get to know her more without worrying about a workout and so forth. She is a really awesome person! :) And an excellent cook! I really enjoyed it. We had a lot of laughs and talked about all kinds of things. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed each others' company. I look forward to working out with her more - when she's not on the road - and also being able to hang with her. She is such an incredible person both on and off the track. Like I said, down to earth, funny, tell it like it is and pretty open. She's sweet. I wish her good luck at the Nationals. I hope she kicks butt and I'll be watching the cyclingnews.com website to see how she does! THANKS JENNIE!!! You are incredibly sweet and I look forward to getting to know you more!

posted by Seattlebiker @ 7:12 PM