6-12-14: my Ride the Rockies week WOW what an experience!!!
Check out my instagram account for all of my photos!!
6-7-14: Tomorrow I embark on my first-ever Ride The Rockies, to raise money on behalf of Trips for Kids Denver! Thank you to all who donated to my ride and got me to my goal really early!! https://www.coloradogives.org/hottmanRTR
"Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder is dedicated to giving underserved, urban youth the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado from the seat of a mountain bike." What an amazing, life changing mission -I'm so proud to support this organization on this epic ride!
(I'm riding the event self-supported so packing the bare minimum will be the name-of-the-game -in itself, a challenge). Thank goodness #rideonchicago got me in shape for this event Looking forward to visiting friends in Breck and Steamboat too! It's gonna be an awesome week!
If you're not busy next Friday afternoon, come greet us as we finish back here in Golden under the arches.
"Trips for Kids Denver/Boulder is dedicated to giving underserved, urban youth the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado from the seat of a mountain bike." What an amazing, life changing mission -I'm so proud to support this organization on this epic ride!
(I'm riding the event self-supported so packing the bare minimum will be the name-of-the-game -in itself, a challenge). Thank goodness #rideonchicago got me in shape for this event Looking forward to visiting friends in Breck and Steamboat too! It's gonna be an awesome week!
If you're not busy next Friday afternoon, come greet us as we finish back here in Golden under the arches.
6-4-14: so much for daily blogging during the
#rideonchicago! Ooops! Too much eating, riding, recovering, chatting
and brainstorming. Here's my law office blog post with links to other worthy reads. I find myself so full of thoughts that I'm speechless. Time to process...
5-29-14: Ride on Chicago
day one in the books!! What a wonderful experience this trip has
already been... a supportive helpful "group ride" through the back roads
of the midwest, cyclists riding with proper etiquette, following the
laws, helping each other get over the hills, all while demonstrating to
the midwest that cycling has its place on our roads and that bikes and
cars can safely and peacefully co-exist. I can't tell you how many
times I said today "this is such an incredible way to spend a Thursday!
Logging almost 100 miles at a steady pace through the rolling hills of
Missouri..." We have amazing support from Skratch Labs, Strava, SRAM,
Firefly Bikes and more. We've all died and gone to heaven eating
Skratch rice cakes all day long, sipping Skratch in our bottles... it's
just incredible to have these companies watching our backs making this
ride logistically feasible for us.
I truly
believe in the mission of what this ride was designed to do, and not
just the fundraising component but also the visibility part; we're
showing the local communities we ride through. And I love seeing
current and former pro cyclists getting involved in the advocacy realm.
Bridging that gap! Tim Johnson has really made this event meaningful.
My dad and his teammate Steve joined us this morning as we rolled out of Kansas City -they snagged these photos of us today.
Tomorrow is a longer day in the saddle and hopefully we outride the rain yet again!
Again- a HUGE thanks to everyone who got me to my $4,000 fundraising goal before I left Denver ! http://www.peopleforbikes.org/page/outreach/view/ride-on-chicago-2014/meghottman
5-24-14: I had the absolute honor and privilege of speaking Thursday night prior to the showing of the movie Half the Road.
The woman who put the event together knew a bit about my past and my
struggle to choose between racing and being an attorney, and asked me to
tell my story. I realized it was the perfect platform from which I
would be able to personalize the feats and accomplishments of those
women who are racing professionally -and to demonstrate the choices, the
sacrifices and the challenges they face in their chosen profession. It
was pretty surreal to speak in front of a nearly-packed theater with
images on the big screen behind me as I walked the stage and told my
story:
I am so grateful for this
opportunity. You don't think about using your own failures to shine a
light on others' successes, but that was the unique opportunity I was
given. In so doing, I realized that our mistakes and failures can be
lessons and messages of motivation to others. That sometimes our most
devastated, heart broken moments, can ultimately serve as beacons of
light to shine on those who are worthy of our respect and admiration -as
the present women's professional cycling peleton certainly is. In so
realizing, I saw how my failures could actually be used to inspire
others. And that gave them a new purpose- a new meaning. Things truly
do happen for a reason.
So I'd urge you -to
consider a time you fell short, and to re-evaluate it... perhaps it
could be a really great story to someone, perhaps you can inspire
someone else to take a bold step, even if your story doesn't always have
a "happy" ending. I find when we feel ourselves swimming upstream,
against the current, chances are - we ARE! It is likely not where we
are directed to spend our time and talents... even if it's the thing WE
want most. Open yourselves to new possibilities and you'll be amazed at
what unfolds... even if it's not the path you chose or envisioned, it's
probably the one you were intended to follow. And when that internal
tension of chasing the wrong things is replaced with a comfortable,
seemingly effortless ease... you will know in your heart you're doing
the right thing.
5-17-14: yesterday's morgul TT didn't go even close to as I'd planned, but that's racing. In a sport where "you're only as good as your last race," when your last race was crappy, it stings.
Sometimes you feel good form
come in your legs and you gain confidence when you know you can push and
your body won't resist. A few weeks ago I felt like I was coming into
some good form after a consistent month of good training, hard rides and
some races. I was pleased with the upward trajectory -both the one I
could feel and the one my Training Peaks account showed me. I was
coming back.
But then - enter a week where
"work happened," and I only got in 2 hours of riding followed
immediately by going down last weekend with the stomach bug. I worked
hard this week on intervals to try and rebound a bit but of course you
can't cram it all into one week; my legs were so dead right from the
start last night, I knew it wouldn't be a pretty race. And it wasn't.
It's
one thing to hurt and suffer when you're fit. It's another to hurt and
suffer when your (lack of) fitness puts you on borrowed time. But that's
racing, and that's cycling in general. You work hard to string
together as many good days as you can so you can hopefully race at your
best, but sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes you're taking steps
back and the people you race against are taking steps forward and the
chasm that opens up between you and them gets huge and you think "I'll
never be able to catch back up." ... Again -that's bike racing.
Despite my disappointing race and result last night, I am thankful to Mary Topping for helping me make lemonade from the lemons with this sweet tweet she posted of me at the finish:
Oh - and hey, 3 days left to bid on my MTB -all proceeds go to PeopleforBikes!
5-14-14: 15 DAYS TO GO!! click here if you're awesome.
5-11-14: I've been sicker than a
DOG this weekend with some random stomach bug. Totally foiled my
birthday century ride/race plans and massively "buggered" my weekend!
But -never too sick for fundraising ;)
5-9-14: The PeopleforBikes.org Ride on Chicago fast approaches!!! I am almost halfway to my fundraising goals and I've just put my 2010 Cannondale MTB up for bid
to raise the balance, so I can hit my $4k goal!! Super exciting stuff
happening and unfolding and I am SOOOOO excited for this event I can't
even tell you. Friends in Kansas City, St Louis and Chicago, Please
take note of the following events - please come out and join us, I would
LOVE to see you!!!
(1) The BASH in Chicago when we arrive: June 2. PARTY!!!!!
(2) The STL Party May 30:
(3) The Departure Ride from KCMO leaving Thies Park:
7:00 � 8:00 AM: Coffee with local cyclists at Thies Park
8:00 AM: Easy roll out (with public riders). 5-7 miles (slow)
8:30 AM: Public Riders peel off.
5-5-14: two races in the bag this past weekend: the Tri Lakes TT down at Palmer Lake near Monument, and the infamous Koppenberg! What a wonderful weekend of sunny warm weather, tons of TCL team presence and great racing! Plus I got in a nice big ride home Saturday after the TT, riding back to Golden from Monument. It ended up being a 95 mile day! It is so fun to feel a bit of form creeping back into the legs. It's been a couple years since I felt that deeper more consistent fitness and it's really fun and exciting to feel it returning. In a new, better, healthier way. My back feels great and life is more-well rounded, with ample time for work and sufficient time for riding. #balanceisking
Here's looking fwd to the exciting and challenging events in the weeks ahead!!
5-1-14:
Ok, I've got less than one month to raise $2,975. I know it can be
done! That's only 60 people to donate $50, or 120 people to donate
$25!!
4-30-14:
#30daysofbiking done and dusted! I can honestly say I've never ridden
my bike 30 consecutive days in a row! Feels like an awesome
accomplishment!
4-24-14:
Day 24 of #30daysofbiking and today's topic is: What IS a female
athlete? What does she look like? I met a woman last night who'd
competed in over 20 triathlons and during our discussion she revealed
she did NOT consider herself an athlete! What the what!?!?! She said
she feels uncomfortable using that word to describe herself. This all
got me thinking ...
I googled "what is a female
athlete" and the only relevant link I found was to this book/series of
photographs (which I LOVE, btw): http://gamefaceonline.org/
It really got me thinking ... and so I made this video for my day 24 of #30daysofbiking -
4-23-14: just one week to go of #30daysofbiking!! Today I-for the first time ever -climbed lookout mountain 3 times. Yeah!
4-19-14: 19 days of #30daysofbiking!
4-15-14: happy tax day!
4-12-14: #30daysofbiking day 12
4-10-14: #30daysofbiking day 10
4-6-14: nice long group ride through 2 snow storms! #30daysofbiking day 6
4-5-14:
4-4-14: PRIZE GIVEAWAY!!!
If you donate $50 to my PEOPLEFORBIKES RIDE ON CHICAGO EFFORT,
you can take your pick of one of the following 3 items: TCL travel
coffee mug, TCL Pint Glass, or TCL backpack. (Must pickup at my office
in Golden-no shipping). Promo ends at 8pm Sunday (mtn time) -ready set
go!!
4-1-14: April Fools Day Kicks off #30daysofbiking! Filmed using iphone -nothing fancy!
3-31-14: the #30daysofbiking
challenge starts tomorrow!! I got an early start on the challenge last
week and rode every day, Monday through Sunday... just to be sure I
could handle it ;) Of course some days are small days- just running to
the store for groceries, and some days are big days, like 4 hour,
60-miler training rides. But the object is to ride every day and with
the exception of today (my one day off inside of a 37-day streak!) I
plan on putting my bum on a bike seat every day through the last day of
April! This is totally doable. [And ps -if the weather is bad -no one
said you had to ride OUTSIDE (rollers or a trainer definitely
count!!!)]. Join me - it'll be fun!!! Get that bike all souped it, cleaned up, dialed in and road-ready!
Here's a little silly video I put together last Monday (using my iphone) on my grocery store trip just for fun:
Oh
- and here's my fundraising plug/request: If I make it all 30 days in a
row, would you consider donating $30 to my $4000 fundraising goal for
our Peopleforbikes.org RIDE ON CHICAGO event?? I'd LOVE it if you did that ;)
3-26-14: looking for a new and fun challenge for your month of April? Join me in this #30daysofbiking challenge!
I actually started mine this week on Monday (why not start early!?!?)
Speaking of challenge... Here's a little vid of my MTB ride with
mechanical saga yesterday - the moral of the story is to KNOW your
equipment and to carry ALL of the tools you may need-not just some of
them ! ;)
3-17-14: shook out the
cobwebs after a few years's hiatus from crit racing and spontaneously
hopped in the women's open crit at the CSM race yesterday -ended up
2nd! This was pretty momentous for me since I went out for a big ride
(having no intention of racing) and stopped by the crit to cheer on
teammates on my way home... found out there were only 7 women signed up
so that sealed the deal and I entered -despite my dead legs! Was super
nice to re-enter the crit racing scene with a nice small pack of
ladies... funny how sometimes I think I'm even more nervous now before
races than I was as a newbie! Self-imposed expectations and uncertainty
about fitness will do that I guess.
Yesterday was definitely one of the bigger rides I've done recently! Slowly but surely, clawing back into shape!
3-16-14: First 2 races of the
season are done - last Saturday I raced the "Frostbite TT" in balmy 70
degree temps and took 3rd place. Yesterday I raced the Lookout Mtn TT
in Frostbite conditions -cold and blustery! -and took 6th. It's hard
coming off my February "off season" and working back into fitness but
that's how it goes! Each race is one step closer to being race fit again
and I'm working as hard as I can to get there.
Thanks to Sportif Images for this photo of me suffering during the TT yesterday!
3-7-14: GOPRO is LIVE!!! Here's
a snippet of a long ride I did yesterday - it includes a narrated
version of lookout mountain ;)
Lookout Mountain 3.6.14 from megan hottman on Vimeo.
3-5-14: So excited to announce
that I'm riding in my first-ever RIDE THE ROCKIES tour this June!! And
even better - I'm doing it to fundraise for Denver's Trips for Kids
organization! Please consider making a small donation here: https://www.coloradogives.org/hottmanRTR
Thank you!!!
2-27-14:
to ride, or not to ride? ...that is the question...when you're down and
out with a head cold. Which I presently, unfortunately, am.
There
are many, many articles on this topic posted by cycling coaches and
exercise gurus, all over the internet. The common saying is, "if it's above the neck, it's ok to train, if it's below the neck, rest up."
A bit of exercise is considered good for strengthening your immune
system, but too much can weaken you, making your cold or symptoms
worse. Bottom line, remember that training is catabolic in nature. It
breaks you down, on purpose. So if you feel like 100% of your body's
energy needs to be spent fighting the bug that's got you down, don't
engage in catabolic -er training -activities. Training while sick means
you will require extra rest, extra fluids and extra calories. So if
you can't afford to stick a nap in after your ride when you're under the
weather, skip the ride and just opt for the nap.
And
keep the intensity to a minimum! My personal preference is to focus on
more strength-oriented riding/training so that I am not breathing
heavy.
Since I'm battling a scratchy throat and
stuffy nose, I've opted to continue riding this week -but at low
intensity and with TONS of fluids and extra rest added. I leave for a
trip Sunday and do NOT want to be sick or get worse while I'm there!
Other OTC/herbal remedies I recommend: Kick Ass Immune, Echinacea,
Emergenc-C, hot water with lemon juice and honey, NyQuil (the bomb) and
loads of fresh fruits for vitamins! Also dressing up super warm
(especially for indoor workouts) and "sweating it out" or standing in a
hot steamy shower seems to help the head symptoms feel better/flush it
out.
Here are a few articles on the topic if you'd like to read more:
2-21-14: REALLY hard to believe the local Colorado bike racing schedule
starts tomorrow with a road race up at Carter Lake! I will not be
racing just yet as I'm only now coming off my "off season"
post-cyclocross-season, but soon...very soon... let the pinning of race
numbers commence!!! #2014bringiton #tryingnewthings
2-20-14: I am REALLY excited to announce that Powerbar
has selected me for their Team Elite roster for the 2014 season! I've
been representing Powerbar Team Elite since 2006 and can't imagine using
anything else for my training and racing nutrition! THANKS
POWERBAR!!
2-19-14: VITAMIX CRAZED!!! I can't stop talking about this blender -I'm a true believer! It makes it SO easy to eat really good foods, really easily!
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USE ABOVE CODE and GET FREE STANDARD SHIPPING ($25US/$35CN)
1-19-14: I return home from our
amazing yoga retreat on the beach and find myself relaxed, reawakened
and refocused. So much to say, so much on my heart, but I feel the
inability to express the feelings and emotions of this experience.
Instead I share the below photo taken from the hotel where we stayed,
and I pass on this video. The expressions in this video were shared with me this week and I want to share them now with you.
1-11-14:
all done! CX season is a wrap! I talked myself into racing the women
35-39 today and ended up 12th. I sprayed off the bike and shoes,
cleaned up my gear and it's all put away until next season. Now -off
season!!
1-9-2014: I can officially
say I've now pinned on a number in 3 different disciplines at elite
nationals -road, track and now cyclocross! Yesterday I raced a sloppy
muddy tricky women's singlespeed championship race at Valmont Bike
park. No way could I pass up the chance to race CX nats when they are
just up the road in Boulder! The technical nature of the course was
definitely not up my alley -fitness had little to do with it, the race
was skills plain and simple. I nearly got in my car and drove home from
nerves because the course was so far outside my league of skills but I
stayed, I managed to pass 3 racers and I finished in 10th place. I also
learned that WD40 on the shoe cleats and pedals helps sooooo much when
it comes to getting the mud cleared enough to clip in. Warming up I
couldn't get either shoe clipped in. After WD40 guys cleaned my bike
and sprayed my cleats I was able to clip in the entire race. Ta-Da!
Photo courtesy of 303Cycling and Dejan Smaic:
I
am still on the fence as to whether I will race the other event I
signed up for -the SW35+ race on saturday, or not ...part of me is
really ready for my season to be over. By my count I pinned on 33 CX
race numbers this fall ...that's a LOT! I feel I made progress but have
much to improve upon before next cx season!
In
the meantime ... road season is just weeks away and I'm looking forward
to some time off the bike before then. I am headed to my first-ever
week long yoga retreat in a warm sunny location to decompress and hope
to return with lots of world-ly wisdom to share. Or maybe just fresh
legs and fresh motivation for the bike and for the season ahead!
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