Tag Archive for ‘Amber Pierce’
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
I love this part of my day. Our team clips in and rolls out, turning left onto the one road that passes by the old convent where we are staying for our preseason camp. Within a few turns of the pedal, we fall into formation—an easy line of pairs—relaxed, talking happily in the sunshine. The [...]
Australia
In Australia, waking before 5am quickly became my daily routine. Last week temperatures soared above 40 C, so training required getting a good chunk of the ride done before sunrise. I love this. Admittedly, it’s somewhat painful to get out of bed in the four o’clock hour, but getting a good session finished before 10am [...]
The Soup
David and I fled south for a few weeks of training in Tuscany, and on the first day, we took our bikes exploring into the mountains. The weather here is a good 10-15 C warmer than Graz, but after a scenic sunny climb, we froze descending through a deep, shaded valley, gingerly making our way [...]
Make Every Minute Count
Sunday night found us in Český Krumlov at the Eggenberg Brewery, happy, cozy and full after a meal of Bohemian-style roasted duck and potato dumplings in the pub’s majestic hall. More than 700 years ago, the very same towering arches and thick walls stored great blocks of ice, hauled from the nearby Vltava River for [...]
Hell Hath No Fury: A Review
As do many professional riders, I face some frigid training conditions during the winter in Europe. As much as I would like you to believe that I’m a machine programmed to crush outdoor training sessions regardless of weather conditions, the fact is, I am a human being, one who has whined plenty and publicly about [...]
To The Sea
For this column, I’m flashing back to my pre-cycling graduate school days, or Amber’s Life, B.B. (Before Bike). I hope you enjoy the tangent! I had finished preparing the surgery station, so I settled into a seat on the upper deck of our 92-foot fishing vessel and took in the view: a yawning afternoon sky [...]
25 Things
I was recently asked to relate some little-known facts about myself, a question that led me to look up this piece, which I’d done for a blog a while ago. Just to mix things up a bit, I decided to post it here for fun. 1. I believe the universe is a friendly place. I [...]
Finger Lickin’ Good
For the record, I don’t follow a specific diet. I generally believe in eating real, unprocessed foods, as opposed to substituting artificially low-cal, low-fat, low-sugar products for the real thing. I’m not an advocate for Atkins, or Paleo, or the Zone. Normally I don’t categorically eliminate anything (e.g. fat or sugar), but instead strive for [...]
Home
By Amber Pierce It’s the off-season! Since I’m temporarily scaling back my training regime to normal-person hours, I suddenly have a lot of time on my hands. This extra time gets allocated to everything I don’t get to do during full-time racing and training. Some of those things are fun; for example, I get to [...]
All The Way To Reno!
By Amber Pierce In the sport of cycling, there’s a saying: no one else in the picture. It’s the sweetest way to win a bike race—solo, so far off the front that you cross the line with no one else in the picture. The only way it could be sweeter? To do it in your [...]
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