Nicole Justice

As many of you already know, I suffered a horrible training accident on January 8th. I was in the hospital for six days and am now staying at my parents’ house while I recover. The accident happened on Highway 35/Skyline Blvd. After three hours of hill repeats up my favorite climb, Old La Honda, I started my descent towards home (according to my Garmin I was going 45mph). My last memory is of looking over my left shoulder and seeing a truck. I don’t know exactly what happened but I was knocked unconscious, an ambulance was called to the scene, and I was taken to the Stanford Hospital emergency room. I really have no memory of the crash or basically the first couple days after the crash. I have horrible flashbacks of getting my nose put back into place, etc. (everything painful) but in general, almost everything else is hazy. I am not over exaggerating in the slightest when I say that I am lucky to be alive. I could have easily been paralyzed, suffered extreme brain damage, or died. I suffered several fractures in my face and skull, stitches on my arm and face, a fractured pelvis, a concussion, and deep lacerations in both of my knees (and I fear worse damage). I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses that helped me at Stanford and for the loving support of my family who were there for me through it all. My father-in-law even flew in from Australia. The crash probably scared all of them more than it did me and I am so sorry to put them all through this.

Now that I am out of the hospital, I am taking recovery one day at a time. For those of you who know me, you know that I hate sitting around. I am virtually unable to “relax” and if I am unable to move, I become extremely frustrated. So, recovery won’t be easy for me. I am basically supposed to rest my body and brain all day. So far, I am keeping a positive attitude but I know I will have my good and bad days. The fact that I was so lucky has made the recovery process relatively easy for me so far. Of course, I would have been luckier if the crash never happened but since it did, I am just so lucky to have not suffered a worse fate. This keeps me positive. The support of my husband and family has also helped immensely and every single flower, gift, card, call, and note has made me feel so much better. There are a lot of people who have been so nice and I will never forget their kindness during this time.

To put it plainly, I have no idea when I will be fit again. I have a bunch of follow-up appointments at Stanford next week. Recovery definitely won’t be quick since fractures don’t heal overnight but I do expect to make a full recovery. In the meantime, I will continue eating soup and frozen yogurt and drinking protein shakes, hoping to keep a bit of strength. So far I have been healing well and the doctors have attributed this to my fitness and strength. To be honest, I was probably at one of my strongest points ever when I crashed (muscle wise, probably not cycling fitness wise). I had just come back from two weeks of training at altitude and was feeling really good. This whole process has proven to me how important it is to always stay healthy as it makes such a difference in quality of life, recovery, etc.

I am hesitant to post photos of what I looked like post crash because it looks like I was beaten up by Mike Tyson. I am happy to send photos to individuals though if you’d like to see. Instead, I attached a photo of me a couple of days ago before going for my “workout” (walking to the end of the driveway and back). I also posted a photo of what my helmet strap looked like after it was cut from my head. My helmet did save my life and let me tell you, it doesn’t look so pretty.

Thanks again to everyone who has shown their love and support. Ride safe, wear a helmet, and be grateful for life! Oh, and GO 49ers!!!

Happy New Year to all! 2012 was an amazing year on and off the bike and I hope 2013 will be full of more success and adventure. I have so much to be thankful for and it is always nice to reflect upon the past year and set goals for the upcoming one. Last year I learned a lot about cycling and life and I am excited to see what 2013 has in store. After almost two weeks of celebrating the holidays and my 27th birthday up in Tahoe with family, I am really pumped to get back to training out on the road. Although cross country skiing and lifting have been a lot of fun, the trainer has not been! Hopefully the altitude gave me a little boost

Below are a couple of recently published articles:

Freeplay Magazine Interview: http://freeplaymagazine.com/?page_id=499

Team Tibco Announcement: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/olympians-buchanan-and-glaesser-join-team-tibco-for-2013

Wishing you all a very happy new year and thanks for reading my blog!

Happy Holidays! I have definitely been slacking with updating my blog but I guess I don’t have anything too exciting to write about! Since it is the off season, I have no stimulating race reports but I can tell you that I’ve been battling hypothermia on my cold winter rides. Being in Australia the past couple of winters, I forgot how cold it can get in Northern California. I am slowly learning the hard way how important it is to wear lots of layers…

Although it isn’t very pleasant, I think it’s important to train in adverse conditions since you never know what kind of weather you’ll get on race day! There is actually something quite magical about cold winter rides… The cool air feels good on your cheeks and the hills take on a different type of beauty. However, there is nothing romantic about wet roads and I learned this the hard way by crashing a few days ago. I was coming into a right hand turn that I take almost every single day when all of a sudden, I was sliding across the road. I sustained some pretty nasty cuts and bruises but my bike fared far worse… a cracked frame! Last week I had bad juju. My frame cracked and my rear derailleur exploded a few days before as I pedaled casually down the road. Luckily, insurance is covering the cost of a new frame and I can finally get rid of my bad luck (but beautiful) crash bike. I am pretty excited that I’ll have a brand new S-WORKS under the Christmas tree

This Friday I am heading up to Tahoe with Luke and my family. I am really looking forward to a white Christmas! In order to stay in shape, I will be cross country skiing, riding the trainer, doing yoga, and limiting my hot chocolate consumption (actually, this probably won’t happen). Let in snow, let it snow, let it snow! Merry Christmas y’all!

Since coming back from Europe, I have been pretty stressed out. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with the 2013 season. It seemed as though a lot of women had already signed professional contracts for next season and I still hadn’t heard much. My coach and I had been in contact with a couple of teams but until last week, nothing was guaranteed. After nearly a month of beer, pretzels, and no exercise, I came back to the US unfit and unsure of my future in cycling. I know I haven’t been cycling for long and that signing a pro contract after one year of racing is uncommon but I felt there was a chance. I had a few wins last season and good test scores. I had shown improvement throughout the season and had raced well at Nationals and at the Cascade Cycling Classic up against professional riders. I had been totally dedicated to training hard and racing well this past season and I hoped more than anything that it would pay off with a pro contract.

Once I decided to commit 100% to cycling with the goal of getting onto a pro team, I didn’t really know what I was in for. Twelve months ago when I started working with Wazza in Australia, I didn’t know much at all about cycling except that I loved riding my bike. With his coaching and a ton of hard work, I was able to get to where I am now. Last week I was offered a spot on Team Tibco for the 2013 season. When I received the phone call I almost started crying, I was so happy! Signing the contract was an incredibly special moment for me. Linda Jackson, the team director, is giving me a chance to show what I can do. Team Tibco is a UCI pro team with the goal of being one of the top teams in the world in 2013. So, the pressure is on! This season I will be racing in the NRC events across the US. I most likely won’t be racing in Europe this season unless I do extremely well. No races are guaranteed and riders on the team will constantly need to prove that they’re on form. I will be racing with some amazingly talented teammates, including two women who raced in the Olympics this year. There is no question that I am going to have to work extremely hard. Now that my offseason is officially over, I need to seriously start getting ready for team training camp in March. Time to put down the chocolate chip cookies and start putting some kms in the legs!

There is no doubt that I would not have been able to sign with Team Tibco if I hadn’t had the support of many people. My coach,Warren “Wazza” McDonald, has been absolutely amazing. Not only has he been a coach but also a friend and sports psychologist. Unfortunately for him, he’s had to deal with all my ups and downs that come with racing, training, and uncertainty about the future. He has always been encouraging and supportive and I couldn’t have done it without him. A big shout out also goes out to my husband, Luke, who has always supported, encouraged, and believed in me. He has been the one who has had to deal with my moodiness after coming home from five hour rides, hungry and tired and that isn’t easy! As always, my family has also been extremely supportive and I’ll never forget my trip to Augusta, Georgia with my mom for US Nationals. The fact that she was willing to go to Augusta with me says a lot. Yes, the city is that bad. Also, a big thank you to the boys at Bike Gallery who got me into cycling in the first place and whipped me into shape. There is no doubt that training with the guys in Melbourne helped me immensely. You all know who you are! Thank you to Bill Nicely for taking me onto Stevens p/b Pactimo this season and always believing in me. Also, thank you to Specialized Australia for the awesome bike and gear that powered me through the season and to Jules Knuppel for the support and opportunities in Australia. Thanks to Mike’s Bikes in Los Gatos for looking after me while I’ve been back in California. Finally, thank you to my Stevens p/b Pactimo teammates who made me look good this season. If it hadn’t been for those girls, it would have been a lot harder to win races.

So, I am now a pro cyclist and it is time to start eating and training like one. I have a lot of motivation and there is no question that I am going to have to work extremely hard if I want to have a successful 2013 season. It’s time to get back on the bike! Oh wait… It’s raining and windy outside… Maybe back on the trainer?

After three weeks away, I am back home in California. I had an amazing time in Europe with Luke… we couldn’t have asked for a better honeymoon! I think I can honestly say that Austria is my favorite place in the world. Unfortunately, I am now suffering from severe jetlag. I’ve been waking up at 4am every morning and have just felt completely strange. I am trying to get back into the swing of things and have gone on a couple of easy rides since getting home. This morning I headed out before 7am, just as the sun was coming up (actually, the sun never came out). It was freezing cold and let’s just say, I didn’t feel very fit! I don’t know what I was expecting… I guess after three weeks of eating pretzels, sausages, and everything else in sight, drinking German wheat beer, and not riding at all it was unrealistic of me to think I’d come back as fit as I was when I left. Well, let’s just say I have some catching up to do! Luckily, the weather is supposed to be beautiful the next few days so it’ll be nice being back out riding in the California sun. That is, unless I get selected for jury duty next week. In that case, I could be out for awhile!

The past five days have been spent relaxing at altitude. I am up in Tahoe with Luke, my brother Greg, and his girlfriend Jordan. It is absolutely stunning up here and every time I’m in the mountains, I seem to automatically relax. After two hard weeks on the bike, I was ready for some downtime and most of my rides up here have been pretty easy. On Tuesday morning I am getting physiological testing done at UC Davis so until then, I am resting my legs. Physiological testing is somewhat traumatizing. I really hate VO2 Max tests with a passion… Having your nose clipped and breathing through a jacked up snorkel while pedaling at threshold is not ideal. I felt like I was drowning the last time I did it and wasn’t thrilled with my results. Now that I know what to expect, I’m hoping I can relax a bit more and show that test who’s boss!

I’m hoping to fit in a ride or two before I jet off to Europe on Thursday, leaving my bike behind. Luke and I are going to Austria, Slovenia, and Germany for three weeks! The first week will be all business with Luke playing in Q School and me possibly caddying (this depends upon whether or not I can behave myself). After that, we will be honeymooning (five months later) and ending our trip at Oktoberfest in Munich… Danger Danger! To be honest, I am really looking forward to three weeks off the bike. I have hardly had any days off since October when I crashed and was on crutches. I know I will probably go a bit crazy not being able to ride with the Swiss Alps surrounding me but I’m sure I will go on plenty of hikes and may even try running a few times if my coach lets me. Staying somewhat physically active will be important since I know I won’t be able to control my intake of pretzels, sausage, and Franziskaner Weissbier!

With next year’s plans still up in the air, it will be nice to get away. I have been pretty anxious worrying about what team I will be with for the 2013 season. I am really hoping to sign with a US team that does all of the major NRC races. I’m very happy with the results I achieved for my first year of racing but only time will tell if my efforts were good enough… Auf Wiedersehen for now!

Photos below: Tahoe & Mi Amira y yo

First things first… I’d like to give a shout out to my husband for driving me around all weekend and cheering me on at my races! Also, thanks to my Aunt Carol and Uncle Doug for feeding me two nights in a row! It was another fun weekend of racing with Stevens p/b Pactimo and the weather was hot, hot, hot! Saturday kicked off with a 120km road race in Winters. The course had one very steep, punchy, and drawn out climb and the rest of the course was pretty much flat with a few rollers. There was a bit of confusion and chaos with team tactics but in the end, we had two of our girls on the podium. Marley Smith took first after breaking away solo on the last lap and I came in third overall. I lost by a fraction of an inch to Mary Maroon in the final sprint. Six of us remained in the follow group (4 of us from Stevens) as we managed to drop the rest of the field. Although the race started out at a relatively slow pace, the intensity increased on the second lap and by the third lap I was feeling the pain of constantly attacking. Overall, it was a fun day.

On Sunday, I woke up with stiff legs! The Vacaville Grand Prix criterium started just before noon and the wind was blowing like crazy! The course was very technical with eight tricky turns and a steep little climb (me likey). Attacks started from the beginning of the race and the pace never let up. I was in a breakaway of six riders for most of the race. Maura Kinsella from Vanderkitten broke away with four laps to go and exhibited her strength by staying away on a very difficult course. Amy T and I did most of the work in the breakaway and I personally was exhausted by the final two laps. I did not plan my nutrition correctly and only had water in my bidon. In the end, I found myself in a bad position on the final sprint and took 5th while Amy took 4th. I was happy with the finish and the effort I put forward. I much prefer crits with hills! All in all, it was a great weekend for Stevens p/b Pactimo. By the way, pictured below are some cycling super foods: seafood paella, organic yogurt, and chocolate chip pancakes… Boo yah!