I love the sport, I haven't made millions off of it so maybe that's why I just feel like a normal person, I just feel regular, so that when I walk out of my house now with people requesting autographs in the middle of Albertson's aisles. I realize that I did go to the Olympics and did come back with a gold medal, but this is all strange. Somebody pinch me please, because I'm just here on my couch at night watching the Olympics now like everyone else in the world.

I love the big fresh starts, the clean slates like birthdays and new years, but I also really like the idea that we can get up every morning and start over.

If people are looking at me in my hometown, then every woman that races against me in the peloton is as well. I can tell you, every one of them now believes that they can do it. When I go to a Cascade or Nature Valley and they race against me, the girls that are say 30 seconds from me at the races are all of a sudden saying 'I'm 30 seconds from gold I mean why can't I do this.'

Take care of yourself. Eat well, rest, train hard and smart, make time to think and breathe. Be intentional with your time.

I was told that there are about 900 gold medal winners in American Olympic history. When I thought about the number 900, I wondered how many kids that are influenced by a gold medal ever get to see a gold medal. What I thought was really neat was that I've already had a couple hundred kids touch my gold medal.

What I have learned about the sport of cycling is that you have to love it to do it because you're not going to retire off of it.

Life is too sweet and too short to express our affection with just our thumbs. Touch is meant for more than a keyboard.