My boyfriend rocks

Here's reason #501,546 that my boyfriend rocks...

Last year I went to Miami Beach for a work-related conference and ended up getting the worst sunburn I've ever had in my entire life. It was really a sort of cloud burn. I was sitting next to the pool for a few hours, under an umbrella, under cloudy skies, and by the time I got on the airplane to head home I was radioactive.

I have to go to the same conference again this year and Marcus bought me a little UV exposure watch for XMas. It measures the UV index and if you program your current SPF and skin type, it tells you when enough is enough. He said, "I don't want you to get fried again." Isn't that cool? I can test it out when I head down to Phoenix this weekend...

Nice day for a ride

I left UZoka at 9am this morning for a south lake loop ride with a few of the guys. Having the day off rocked! I felt really good and strong on the ride today and had no trouble hanging with the pack. I'm sure we weren't going super strong, but we did a good solid 35 miles. I was even able to paceline down Lake Washington and take some short pulls at speed (20+ with a good headwind). I need to work on being able to do longer pulls before fading, but all in all I felt pretty good. We even had some sunshine today!

I've been riding with the heart rate monitor and it's a great way to track effort. While we were pacelining down Lake Washington I got into Zone 4 and slightly into 5, which is 190-200 for me, and I could definitely feel when I was starting to go anaerobic. I know, I have the heart rate of a mouse. My hammies were screaming at me today, probably from the power builders I've been doing this week. I need to hit the shower, stretch out some, and grab some grub!

I was born to run!

At least that's what BioSportsNW says. I went there last night for my first appointment. After a physical exam the therapist marked up my legs and stuck little white dots all over my knees and shins. I hopped on the treadmill barefoot and did some walking and running while they videotaped everything. Then I did the same with shoes on.

It's very fascinating to watch yourself in slow motion on video. The therapist said that based on the video she'd guess I was suffering from ITBS in the left leg. It's actually in my right. What can I say? I've never been normal. The bottom line is that I have a slight pelvic tilt on my right side that makes my right leg appear shorter. My left foot is very flat, probably as an attempt to correct the issue.

My orthotics weren't really designed for running, so they're both helping and hindering me. I do have a slight foot pronation, and the orthotics help that, but they're so rigid that they cause other problems. I go back tomorrow to get a new set of orthotics made and to start a stretching and strength training program.

The awesome news is that the therapist said I should be back to running in no time. Aside from a few minor hiccups I was told that I have near perfect running biomechanics. Great! I'm destined for the Boston Marathon after all...is that good or bad news?

Doggy graduation

Tonight Jake graduated from his Beginner Education class at Petsmart. He even got to wear a graduation cap! Cute isn't he? Even though he looks pretty mellow, getting him to sit there quietly with the hat wasn't easy.

As an extra treat tonight our instructor set up an agility course. Jake did an awesome job and even ran through the big long tunnel thing after a little indecision. Once he ran through he decided it was really fun and kept the class entertained by continuing to run through it. Only one other couple showed up with their dog for graduation, so it was a small class tonight. They even brought in some toys - how nice!

Now I just need to get my butt to sleep. Somehow I've gotten myself all screwed up and I've been staying up until 3am and sleeping until 10am or later. Ugh. Enough already! I just did a set of power builders on the bike trainer to wear myself out but I'm not sure it's working.

Windstorm afterthoughts

I took the night off from bowling to work on the house and started thinking about some of the funnier aspects of the windstorm. I had driven most of the way to Renton this morning to go to work before finding out that work was closed. It seemed that everyone had flocked to Renton, which was one of the few places with power, in search of two things: gas and coffee.

Yup, in a major crisis Seattle can only think, "Where can I get my coffee?" I figured I'd stop and get a Tully's on my way back home and the line was ridiculous. I swear there were 600 people crammed in the Starbucks across the street. I was listening to KIRO7 this morning on the radio and people were phoning in locations of open Starbucks. Haha! The gas station was even worse! Hundreds of cars were lined up all trying to force their way to the pump.

I have to admit that I was one of the idiots who didn't fill my gas tank Friday before the storm, but I figure there's no where I need to go that I can't get to on bike or on the bus. I can't help but smile a bit when there's a major gas catastrophe. I love anything that causes people to stop driving cars and think about alternate transportation. If you're willing to sit in line for 4 hours to get gas, do you really need to be somewhere that badly?

Windstorm 2006

We had a monster of a windstorm last night. It rolled in pretty strongly about 10pm. We have a great view of the I-90 bridge and Mercer Island and it didn't take long for half of the island to go dark. We kept seeing blue flashes all over the sky from the power outages and within an hour all of Mercer Island and nearly everything we could see was dark. It was weird how suddenly the sky would be lit up with blue and then one big area would just go dark. We finally lost our power about 11pm just as I was getting ready to prime the bathroom. Good timing I guess! I hear a wind gust of 113mph was clocked at Chinook Pass near Mount Rainier. Crazy!

Our neighbors had a close call with their pine tree, which took out their XMas Santa, some potted plants, and part of their fence but spared the house. Co-workers let me know that power was out at work and the parking lot was blocked by a tree, so I got a nice 3-day weekend. I decided it was a good excuse to get out on the bicycle for a light recovery ride and check out the damage. There were tons of bikers out, probably enjoying an unexpected day off and light traffic.

This tree was suspended above the road off Lake Washington Blvd near the arboretum and Bush School.

Here's another huge tree that was blocking the road to the arboretum. The road is closed while city crews are cleaning everything up.


Just north of the arboretum someone's Prius bit the dust. They had a cardboard sign taped to the tree and though I was curious what was on it, I didn't get too close since power lines were down across the road.

All the poor residents of Mercer Island are apparently stuck there for a while. There's so many trees down on Island Crest Way (which is the main thoroughfare on the island) that no one can get through.

I guess Robin Hood Lanes in Edmonds is open and bowling is on for tonight. Our power is back on so I need to get the primer up in the bathroom and then I might be heading out to bowl. To be honest I was looking forward to skipping out tonight and staying home!

Gymboree

I've made it to the gym twice this week! Wow...I might be back on my road to recovery!

Ducati finished up my bike and called me yesterday to give me a four-figure bill. For that price it better run better than they say it does. Now I just need to find the next day it's not monsoon raining or the wind is blowing 60+ to go get it.

Ahhh, work-subsidized massage is the best. I'll forget all about the Ducati bill and the gymboree in no time...

Roller Sunday

I hopped on the rollers last night for the first time in a while and spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get on without crashing. Considering I've only ridden them a handful of times, the most recent being about 6 months ago, I'm pretty dangerous. I could only manage to ride with one hand on the handlebars and one on the wall.

I've decided that from now on Sunday night will be roller night! The rollers will help me improve balance, handling, and my spin, all of which are desirable this year. I'll be sure to take a picture, especially of the injuries.

Swimming practice yesterday

Yesterday the Zoka ride started from the Exit 9 P&R, headed through Newport Hills out to May Valley, Issaquah and back. The CycleU performance test Thursday night wrecked my legs. I was lagging a bit on the team ride and I shouldn't have been. We did the Tiger Mountain climb, which is a first for me. Even though the Giant is heavy, I'm realizing that I'm not as good on long climbs as I'd like to be. Short, steep climbs are cake, but I need to focus on my endurance and get better at the long grinds.

Once we got over Tiger Mtn it started pouring and the rest of the ride was cold, dark, and very wet. There were quite a few testy motorists yesterday. A few people honked at us and some guy even pulled a U-turn on Tiger Mtn to yell at us to get out of the road. Issaquah-Hobart Rd was full of motorists who had PLENTY of room to slide left and give us a few extra inches in the nasty weather but who insisted on getting as close as possible. I never understand that. Give us a break! We planned for a 50+ mile ride continuing around Lake Sammamish but we all decided to cut out the lake loop and just head back through Newport Hills. We clocked about 40 miles, which was just fine for me since my legs were toast.

Biosports NW

Oh yeah, I visited my knee doc this morning since I'm about at the end of my rope with the whole ITBS problem. Unbelievably, it dates way back to October 2005. Has it seriously been that long? After spending 6 months in physical therapy and then doing strength training with Joe at Headquarters I haven't really seen any marked improvement. Ok, so that's not entirely true. I did improve a bit since I can now run about 2 miles without problems, sometimes 3. At one point I couldn't even run a block let alone make it down the stairs. I run so sporadically these days that it's hard to gauge my progress, but my knee has never felt like it used to.

My running bug is back though, and I'm tired of getting tweaky at 2 miles. I want to run again damnit! That marathon thing is still lingering out there and it's pissing me off. My doc said I'm getting old. Yup. He said it's a combination of biomechanics and age. Shit. He said some people never run again after having ITBS. Great pep talk eh? At least he set up an appointment for me on Dec 20th over at BioSports NW to get a gait analysis and new orthotics made. Mine are 7 years old and I know that I pronate when I run, so here's hoping they discover some miraculous cure through shoes, orthotics, PT, or something. At this point I'm ready to do ANYTHING. I guess I should be lucky to have cycling, but I still can't get away from the running bug.

CycleU Performance Testing

I know it's random, but wet cats rock.

The performance test at CycleU last night went much better than last time and my times seemed much more reasonable. A bad computrainer can really ruin your day! I'm nearly even with where I tested last March, but I have been couch potatoing for the last 2-3 months. Compared to last time I recovered much better for the second test so that's improvement.

Note to self: bring food next time! We stayed after to discuss Craig's training plan and I kept getting hungrier and hungrier until I nearly devoured the bike. Marcus rocks. I called him as I was driving home at 100mph and all I had to say was, "Hungry. Food". He got the picture and I had a nice dinner waiting at home.

If it sounds like a Duck and walks like a Duck...

...be prepared to spent lots of $$$ on it.

Yup, Ducati called me this morning and my bike has crappy compression. The good possibility: a tight intake valve. The bad: a bad valve or ring. They used up my 1.5 hours of shop time and $200 just rebuilding the rear master cylinder, which was in poor shape. *sigh* Today it's getting torn apart so they can diagnose the problem further and call me with the anticipated $1000 repair bill. At least the bike quit starting so they can diagnose that as well. I think the starter button housing was damaged in the crash so a bad connection is likely the culprit.

They say the bike is in good shape, but the previous owner likely never serviced it and it's jonesing for some TLC. New belts, plugs, and a much-needed tune-up should hopefully make it all fat and happy. RMC just called me a few weeks ago to ask how I'm liking the bike. Maybe I should call them back and tell them...

Night riding is fun!

I woke up this morning with a bit of a scratchy throat, so I stayed home from work and slept until an unbelievable 3pm. I felt much better once I woke up but I've been very discouraged with myself lately as I seem to be having a hard time getting back to a gym and biking routine. Marcus suggested I ride the south lake loop, so I decided to throw the lights on my bike and head out.

I took off around 5pm and went clockwise around the lake. This is the first ride I've done at night and it was super fun, though a little scary in places. The I-90 trail is filled with people walking in dark clothes with no reflective tape, so they can give you quite a scare when you come around a corner. Somewhere around Mercer Island I saw this little faint twinkling light on the ground near the side of the trail. I slowed down as I was trying to figure out what the hell it was. Let's just say I ended up with way too close of an encounter with a dog AND his tennis ball. Who walks their dog unleashed on the I-90 bike trail at night? Bad idea!!

The ride pulled me out of a bit of a funk and I'm glad I headed out. It's clear I've lost some fitness though. At one point I thought I was hauling ass down Rainier Ave and I was going 17. Sad!!! The Giant does take quite a bit more work to move, but that's still pretty slow for me. I think I'll start doing some rides at night more often, but only with a better headlight. I also need to start biking to work again. I tend to get demotivated in the winter and exercise helps immensely but I never feel motivated to exercise, hence the vicious circle.

Tomorrow night I'll be performance testing at CycleU again and getting our team training plan started. I'm stoked!

Ducati blues

On Sunday I fired up the Monster to take a spin and it just sounded horrible. The RPMs would drop off and the bike would die every time I tried to idle it. I managed to get it around the block with the throttle rolled almost all the way on and it had no power. Suck! Riding with the throttle nearly fully open is also not a comforting way to ride a 900cc bike.

Since it's had some quirks since the accident I decided to convince Marcus to ride it to Ducati for me today. The guys there looked it over, talked a lot about the very obscure after-market exhaust system, and said it likely hasn't had a major service. I got it at RMC so I doubt they did anything to it. Ducati's estimate for a full service: $800 - $900. Ugh. I opted to pay them $200 to go over the bike for about an hour, do a compression test, and see if they find anything obvious. Then we'll go from there. They said it likely just needs a good tune-up and a little TLC so hopefully that's the case and there's no major engine problem. Between this and the bicycle overhaul I'm about done with toys.

WTF

If someone out there can explain to me how in the hell Florida miraculously ended up in the National Championship game please share. Everyone in the country knows Ohio St and Michigan are the deserving teams. So what if they're both in the same conference? You can't penalize the two top teams in the country just because they're both in the Big Ten. Seriously, how many times does that happen? Give me a break.

And don't even get me started on how the Irish got a Sugar Bowl bid. Just when I thought I couldn't hate them anymore...

Brrrrr

I hooked up on the Zoka ride today and man was it cold out there! I honestly didn't think it would be that bad since it looked so nice out. I joined the ride just south of Leschi and by the time I got to Seward Park my fingers were numb. I'm happy I grabbed the good 'ol hand and foot warmers. Those things rock! I bought a ton at Lowe's so I'm stocked up for the winter.

We have a lot of new people not in uniform and there were so many bikers out there this morning it was difficult to tell who was riding with our team and who wasn't. When the pack went by I could barely tell it was Zoka. The Giant felt absolutely amazing since the overhaul. It's still a very heavy bike to get up hills, but the drivetrain is working so smoothly that it's actually halfway enjoyable to ride. I really need to get off my ass and hit the gym and start riding though. I'm surprised how quickly I lost my fitness and it'll be race reason before you know it. Ok, off to drywall mud...yippee!!! Oh yeah, and those pictures are still coming...

I have to admit it's getting better

Yes, I'm listening to Sgt Peppers, but things are getting better. I've been in a weird funk since my Labor Day stage race in Eugene. I think part of the issue is that I've been so busy and focused at work lately. Today was a great day in that we finally launched the application we've been working on. It's been a long road for something so small and simple.

I manage a dev team dedicated to providing tools for our Member Care department, so needless to say, we're always at the bottom of the totem pole priority speaking. We get bumped and stepped on by all of the bigger projects and project teams so it takes an amazing amount of perserverance, dedication, bribing, crying, and pleading to get our stuff the attention it deserves.

I did manage one gym workout this week. With this big project done, I should be able to settle into a more normal routine. I'm hitting both the Zoka ride on Saturday and the women's ride on Sunday. Sammamish Valley Cycle did a kickass job overhauling my old Giant and I can't wait to get out there this weekend.

It's armageddon...save us!

Nothing cripples Seattle like ice and snow. Some parts of the city got hit really hard while others got nothing. We live too close to Lake Washington to ever get much more than a dusting of snow. When I left work yesterday around 5:30 it was pouring hail and sleet and thundering. I headed to work this morning and once I got to the Renton Airport the roads turned to ice. Getting the rest of the way through Renton was actually pretty challenging. I grew up in Indiana so I've certainly driven in worse conditions, but Seattle has so many hills it's next to impossible to get around here even with minor snow and ice.

I think I'm one of about 20 people that came to work today. I spent the day moving into my new office at work, which is fun and crappy at the same time. Sure, an office is nice, but I enjoy sitting with everyone else and being able to talk. Now I'll be trapped in a box in the corner. At least my team sits right outside my office so I can still talk freely with them. And I have windows :)

I'm leaving early and heading home to finish drywalling the bathroom. It's getting really close to being done - maybe this weekend. I just took some pictures of the disastrous construction mess last night and will post 'em up later tonight.

One overhaul please!

Extra sleep in a warm bed vs. a cold team ride is always a hard decision, but I certainly feel better when I pick the latter. Today we did a nice 40-45 mile loop from Bothell out to Snohomish and back. It was one of those nice epic days for me. My old Giant is in pretty poor shape and all I could notice most of the ride was how much noise my chain and drivetrain were making. With about 15 miles left in the ride, mostly uphill, my bike quit shifting into any easy hillclimbing gears. Riding up hills with a 30 cadence in a great big 'ol gear while barely maintaining 4-5mph is awesome fun! Given my recent laziness, my legs are pretty fatigued after a typical 40 mile ride, so this was extra punishment.

With about 8 miles left we stopped to assist a teammate with a flat and then I noticed that the quick release skewer on my bike tire looked funny. Hmmm, rewind to last night when I put on brand new tires and tubes. Yeah, the skewer looks like it's going the wrong direction because I never secured it! That's right, I rode about 35 miles today with my rear tire "kinda tight" but not locked down. Brilliant! I guess luck was on my side :)

I've had more than enough drivetrain trouble with the Giant, especially since I crashed it last December. It's gotten me over 2500 miles mostly in crappy weather, so I felt like it deserved a nice overhaul. It's over at Sammamish Valley Cycle until Monday getting stripped naked. I probably should have had it overhauled a long time ago. It'll be just like getting a nice new shiny bike (without the carbon fiber).

Back to work now! Marcus and I have been working like crazy on the bathroom and wet bar. I'm sure I'll have some pictures soon...

672 at Sunlani!

I realized I have yet to say anything about bowling, which is funny since it's always been my #1 sport! I've been bowling since I was 5. At one point I was a PWBA regional bowler and very nearly went to Australia for a USA Bowling exchange program. For some reason or another I just got burned out on the sport and it wasn't fun anymore so I "retired" for a few years, then finally got back to it when I moved to Seattle in 2000. Since then I've bowled the Northend General league at Leilani Lanes, which is the men's high-roller league. There's a few of us gals in the league keeping the guys in check :) Unfortunately Leilani got bulldozed last year so our league was moved to Robin Hood Lanes in Edmonds for this year's season.

I've been struggling up there since the league started in September. Most of the league bowlers have averages in the 220+ range and most everyone started out the first few weeks of the league 50+ pins under. It was brutal! I went from a 192 average last year to a 148 this year. Yeah, that's pretty sad. I've now managed to come up to a 168, which is still pretty sad. The shot at Robin Hood is just tough. Don't get me started on the whole science of bowling, but trust me, there's more to it than just throwing your ball down the lane.

I also bowl Monday nights at "Sunlani", aka. Sunset Bowl. The owners installed all of the equipment from Leilani, so Sunset has Leilani's lanes, pinsetters, pins, etc. I bowl great at Sunset, which is to be expected since if I close my eyes it feels like Leilani. Last night I rolled a 672 series, which is my best of the season and I think my best series since my 763 on my birthday last year. Woo! It felt great to roll well since Robin Hood has been such a struggle lately.

Our team took all of our points last night so I think we won the first trimester of the league. Yeah...instant entry for the finals baby! :)

What up with the lazy?

For some reason I just cannot get motivated. Aside from going to our Zoka team party on Saturday night I pretty much did NOTHING all weekend. I was supposed to do the team ride Saturday morning but rather than get out and enjoy the nice day I slept until nearly noon. And of course I couldn't miss the game of the century, which was, in fact, one of the best football games I've ever seen despite Ohio St winning.

I was just really beat this weekend and spent most of it in bed or watching TV. That's a rare occurrence for me. I felt bad since Marcus slaved away all weekend working on the bathroom, which is coming along nicely! So, I have to give myself a huge kick in the ass and really get going. I think the few days off for Thanksgiving will help me get back on track. I gotta hit the gym, start biking, start running, etc etc. Racing starts in March and it'll be here before I know it.

The team party Saturday night was great and it was awesome to see a handful of women there -- yeah! The gals on the team are so excited to race so I hope I can help them out. Most of them are interested in what racing is like and if it's fun, hard, exciting, or scary. It'll be great to have some company out there next year!

It's almost here!!!

The game I usually wait for every year is even better this year. I'm counting the seconds until the epic Ohio St / Michigan battle tomorrow. Yes, I'm a diehard Boilermaker, but I have a soft spot in my heart for the Wolverines (unless they're playing us). It's all about me and the plasma TV tomorrow. I'm sure Marcus understands...

Flat season

The weather was gorgeous Wednesday so I decided to ride the bike (as in bicycle) to work for the first time in a while. As I was riding down Rainier Ave all I could think about was how horribly out of shape I was! Here I was barely going 15 when I normally go at least 19 or 20 with a little effort. Sure, I'm on my old aluminum bike with my old shoes and SPD mountain biking pedals, but seriously! As I headed into Renton it seemed I was working harder and harder and going slower and slower.

About a mile from my work I heard the tell-tale "clink" sound that only comes from your wheel rim hitting a bump in the road. Yup...I looked down and my damn rear tire was pancake flat again. One of these days I will figure out that riding with flat tires really doesn't do much for your ego! This is the second flat in nearly as many days, which tells me I'm due for new tires and tubes. Seems that last winter's riding really took a toll on my bike. So, I'm off to Center Cycle over lunch to drop some $$$ on the old aluminum Giant. I guess it needs a little love.

Back to biking

I woke up early Saturday morning to join the Zoka team ride leaving Exit 9. We were all lucky to have missed the rain and although the ride started out chilly we had suprisingly nice weather. It was great to see several ladies out on the ride!

Last year I struggled to keep up on team rides but this year I'm doing just fine. Unfortunately about 20 or so miles into our 40+ mile ride I had a flat. We were heading up E Lake Sammamish Parkway and suddenly I started dropping way off the pace. We weren't moving that fast so I was rather perplexed. I slid off the back of the pack thinking that I was completely out of shape until I looked down and saw my back tire was pancaked. Nothing like trying to hill climb with a flat tire! I stopped to change the flat and then hooked up with two Zoka riders a little ways back.

We ended up making our own route back to Exit 9 and caught some of the team at the finish. I think we did about 43-45 miles. Riding on the Giant is definitely a workout. It doesn't climb nearly as well or shift as smoothly as the Ruby. I figure if I ride this old heavy aluminum bike all winter I'll be flying when I get back on the Ruby.

VW Update

Well, looks like I get to cruise around in a Beetle for the next few days. University VW found out that I have a small leak around the rear windshield wiper motor and with all of our rain lately it caused a glitch with the hatch sensor. So, it's three days before the parts come in.

University VW has redeemed themselves by allowing me to drive their Beetle for the next few days and keep my car locked up on their lot. At least if the alarm goes off there no one cares. I'm sure my neighbors will be ecstatic.

Waking the dead

Last night while I was driving home from bowling the 'door ajar' light in my Golf starting blinking off and on. I checked that every door including the hatch was shut but it still continued to blink on and off. I figured it was no big deal and I probably had a bit of an electrical gremlin somewhere. Then once I got home and locked my car I realized what a huge problem the 'door ajar' light causes with your alarm system.

No sooner than I had walked in the house the alarm started going off. I figured I accidentally bumped the panic button on my keyless remote so I unlocked and relocked the car. Then the alarm started again. I unlocked and relocked. Well, you get the idea....lather, rinse, repeat. Of course it was around 10:30pm and the neighbors were delighted.

Just as I was contemplating disconnecting the battery the alarm ran its course for the 6th time and quit. I'm a heavy sleeper so who knows if it went off through the night, but I do know it woke me up at about 7 this morning. I then realized the whole absurdity of the situation. Ok, I can't lock my car because the alarm won't stop going off so I can't lock my car? WTF!?

I called University VW and after being put on hold 5 times for over 5 minutes I decided to just drive up there. I explained the situation to the service attendant, who then tells me there is nothing she can do as they are swamped because of the bad weather and have no loaner cars. Apparently everyone's sunroofs are leaking from the massive rain and they're booked. WTF!?

At this point I'm getting irate as I completely understand they are busy but I have a rather serious issue with my car in that I can't lock it without the alarm going off sporadically. I don't need the car fixed right away, I just need to be able to leave it and arrange other transportation. They don't really seem to care much.

Luckily, the lady next to me graciously offered me her loaner car since her car was going to be serviced in about an hour. What an awesome gesture! Now I'm driving a cute little Beetle until the VW dealership can take a look at my car, which likely will take a few days. This is the second time I've had a similar experience with University VW so I'm not certain I would consider buying another car from them.

Ahh, gotta love electronics!

Emerging from hibernation

Last Thursday I did a time trial performance test at Cycle U and my results were less than stellar. Last year I completed the 5-mi time trial in about 16 minutes, which isn't great but it's not horrible given that I suck at time trialing. This year I was somewhere around 19 minutes!? I told Craig that I swore something was amiss with the computrainer. I felt like I was busting my ass and was barely able to sustain 15-16mph.

Sure, I've been off the bike for a few weeks, but I kept up with some faster people on last week's team ride. There's no way I'm that far off the mark! Craig did mention that the guy in the previous heat complained about the same computrainer, so I really do hope something there was off. What a major downer!

I've been too lazy to get my old road bike set up for rainy weather so I missed the team ride Saturday. No way I'm riding the Ruby in the rain! I finally got the 'ol Giant rolling on Sunday and took a cruise up to Sandpoint and back in the rain. At least it was comfortably mild out! After riding a nice new carbon fiber bike the Giant feels aweful. The shifting is clunky, the gears slip around, it makes tons of noise and it feels like I'm towing a ton of bricks. At least when I get back on the Ruby it'll feel awesome!

I think I'm starting to emerge from my hibernating funk. I felt motivated to ride Sunday for the first time in a long while and I'm getting itchy to get my butt in training for doing the LA marathon next March. Now I just need to get back to the gym and I'll be set.

Marcus and I have decided we really need to get some indoor projects done on the house this winter, so we're going to try to put together a "to-do" list. We'll see how far we go with that. If I can FINALLY get the bathroom floor tile finished and grouted I'll be ecstatic.

Back in the saddle: Part 2

Over the weekend Marcus and I finished building the fence and worked on hauling away tons of crap from the backyard. I was able to enjoy the weather and get on the Monster Saturday for a short ride. Unfortunately there won't be any riding today since the temps dipped into the 30s last night and there's some frosty areas on the road. I'm not quite ready for ice yet.

I finally got my butt back on the bicycle Saturday for a team ride. It's been about 5-6 weeks since I've ridden and it felt great to get back on. I did realize that it's a little strange hopping on the bicycle after I've been riding the motorcycle all week. I nearly crashed just getting out of the driveway!

The team ride headed south around the lake and then around Mercer Island. My legs were tired at the end but I held up surprisingly well given my hiatus. Last year, one of the guys on the team crashed me out on one of my first team rides. We've joked about it ever since. As we were approaching the Mercer Slough I was riding behind him and not fully paying attention (bad idea) and ended up overlapping wheels. I have no idea how I didn't go down but there was a serious "Oh shit" moment there. I think we need to stay away from each other from now on. Haha. I seriously can't believe I did that. I'm finally just about healed up from the motorcycle crash so the last thing I need is to go down again.

It was exciting to see some women out on our team ride. Looks like we've picked up at least 10 women this year so I've now stepped up into the role of women's team captain. Next year should be fun!

My Monster

I finally got a picture of the Monster yesterday, now I just need to get a picture of me on it. You can probably see the nice dent I put in the tank right on the Ducati logo. Bummer, but I'll probably get it fixed sometime in the near future.

I've been riding to work this week and I feel so much more comfortable now. As of yesterday I've added about 75 miles to my riding experience - yay! I ended up riding home in some sprinkles yesterday so I decided to keep the bike home today and ride tomorrow when there's definitely no chance of rain.

The bike is headed to Ducati tomorrow over lunch. Yesterday it backfired pretty badly on a cold start, so I'm not sure if it was just a bad day or if it might need an adjustment. It's already loud with the aftermarket exhaust so the backfire sent everyone ducking for cover. It's also idling a bit low and it wouldn't hurt to have it checked out from the crash. Since Ducati is downtown and I work in Renton, I might have a great excuse to do my first interstate ride. I took the windshield off the bike since I think it looks much better without it, but we'll see how it is going 60+. I've only gone 50-55 so far and you definitely get blown around a bit.

It's so much fun to ride!

The Monster Rocks

I spent an hour in the Wizards of the Coast parking lot doing figure 8s on the Monster. I was scared as hell and riding pretty sketchy when I first started. After a few laps I was going faster, relaxing, and getting smoother with the clutch and throttle.

I'm sure everyone was entertained watching me weave around the little islands in the parking lot. I prayed I didn't drop the bike since I'm sure I had tons of co-workers watching from across the street.

After a while I started getting my confidence back and since it was getting late decided to head home. The ride home was awesome fun! I did great, felt good, and even handled someone pulling out right in front of me. Some guy on an R6 stopped next to me in Renton at a light and tried to start up a conversation. Unfortunately my bike is so loud all I could do was smile and wave. Haha!

The construction crew on the corner that helped me when I crashed waved enthusiastically and gave me a thumb's up when I cruised by. How embarassing! I feel much better now and I think if I continue riding back and forth to work and doing drills in the parking lot there I'll be just fine. Saweet!

Back in the saddle

I was bugging Marcus all weekend about getting the Ducati fixed so I could get back on it. Then when we finally got it fixed and running again last night Marcus took it for a test spin and then said, "Ok, it's all yours!" I stood there for a minute and thought, "Hmm, ok. I'm not sure I want to get on it now." I dragged myself inside, geared up, and talked Marcus into dropping the bike down the street at the Marina off Lake Washington Blvd. At least I could hop on then without any tight turns to negotiate right off the bat.

I sat on the bike for a while and decided I had spent way too much money on gear and had too much fun riding to not get back on, so away I went. I cruised up and down Lake Washington Blvd a few times with a deathgrip on the handlebars. After a while I started to relax but since it was my first time riding since the crash and my first time nearly in the dark I found it hard to go much over 30. I was VERY easy on the throttle and really nervous about turning but did just fine. At one point Marcus was worried I had been out for a while so he ended up cruising up behind me as I headed home. He said I took the left turn to the house so slowly he worried that I would tip over.

I decided to hop on today and ride to work. I'm very tentative and nervous about turns now and I wasn't before. I'm getting ready to leave work and head over to the empty parking lot across the way and play on the bike. I figure I need a nice empty lot with no traffic worries to get familiar with the bike and learn how to control the throttle better. I think doing laps in the parking lot for about an hour will really help me get familiar with the bike and increase my confidence. Here we go!

Healing

It's officially been one week since I crashed my motorcycle. It really doesn't seem that long and I can barely even remember the details anymore. I've since found out that having Tegaderm on your knee caps sucks, so I took it off and let the scabbing begin. My hip road rash was a bit worse so it's taking longer to heal. I landed pretty squarely on my left knee and it feels very stiff and tight and I'm having difficulty with certain movements. I'm seeing my knee specialist on Friday to make sure I didn't do anything damaging.

Barring any kind of serious knee problem, I'm planning to head out on the Zoka team ride this weekend. It's been about four weeks since I've been on the bicycle and two weeks since I've hit the gym or done any running. I'm going to chunk out man!

Last night was Petsmart training for Jake and he's progressing really well! The class is a riot. There's nothing like 6-8 dogs needing training all locked up together in a small room. I found out the secret to getting Jake to walk with me is getting him a harness. Works like a charm and no more pulling! The trainer also told me we've been overfeeding him, which is likely why he's been having overnight bathroom accidents. I lightened up his food and voila! No accidents last night!

Tonight is the season-finale of Project Runway...I can't wait!

Here's some updated pictures. My hip looks nastier than it really is. The white area is the deepest part of the road rash and is still healing. The rest isn't too bad. The darker part on the lower right is where the fluid under the Tegaderm is collecting. Gross, isn't it? The road rash on my knees looks pretty wimpy now.

Road rash is lovely...

...especially on bendable parts. Ugh, remind me next time to get road rash anywhere but my knee caps. Well, almost anywhere.

I'm starting to heal up just fine from Wednesday's crash. I can finally bend both of my knees and the most swollen one is starting to look much more normal now. The scrape on my hip is fading and now getting itchy. The patch of road rash above my hip is still a bit nasty but looking much better than it did a few days ago. My elbow is the only concern I have. It looks the least banged up, just a light bruise, but it's giving me the most trouble. Hopefully I didn't crack it.

I plan to get the parts from Ducati this week to fix the bike. It's looking like the weather may be cooperative and I can get a few rides in later in the week. This time I'll have pants and boots!

The Injury Report

I think I'm going to rename my blog "The Injury Report". I really must start posting here again, there's just been too much happening lately and I'm letting everyone down!

Ok, first off, last week I finally got a dog. He's such a sweetie! I picked him up at the Bellevue Humane Society. He's a 9-mo old Lab/Chesapeake Bay mix named Jake. He hasn't had any training so he's not horribly mindful. I started him in puppy training at Petsmart last week so hopefully we'll turn that around! He loves walking, running, and playing fetch and is settling in pretty well. And he doesn't mind the cat, which is great.

Second big news: I got my motorcycle! On Tuesday I bought a used 2001 Ducati Monster 900 from Renton Motorcycles. Man is it sweet! As soon as I get a picture I'll post it. I rode it home from work Tuesday evening and it was a blast!

On Wednesday morning, I crashed my motorcycle. Yup, that's right. Less than 24 hours after buying it I wrecked it. I took off to head in to work, stopped at the 4-way stop 2 blocks from home, and crashed trying to make the left-hand turn. It happened so fast that I don't even remember what happened. I recall the bike sliding, then next thing I know I was headed straight for the curb. I remember thinking, "Shit, not good" and then I clipped the curb and went down. Even now I keep thinking, "Did that really happen?"

Some construction workers on the corner ran over, picked up the bike and made sure I was ok. All I could say was, "Shit!" Then someone handed me my shoe. I think there was some water in the intersection and in combination with the new tires on the bike I slid when I made the turn. All I really remember clearly was hitting the curb with the bike, then the road with my body. I might have jabbed the throttle, which uprighted the bike, and ended up high-siding. I'm really not sure.

I called Marcus, told him I crashed, walked home in a daze and crawled in bed. Haha! He rode the bike home and then looked at me and said, "Nothing is broken right? Everyone drops the bike, you're fine. Get up and go to work." What sympathy. I never would have guessed that I would crash a motorcycle so quickly. Luckily the bike isn't too badly damaged. I did unfortunately dent the tank, but the only other damage is a broken right foot peg and rear brake lever. Hopefully I can get it fixed this weekend and be healed enough to head out again next week. I don't think the crash has deterred me from riding, but I do think I'll be a bit nervous when I get back on.

My knees and right hip took the brunt of the fall. I regret not getting the motorcycle pants and boots I looked at since they would have saved me some damage. Luckily the gloves, jacket, and helmet all did their job. I ended up with some road rash on my right hip and both knees. My left knee is pretty swollen and my left elbow is bruised and sore. Other than that, I think I'm ok. Here's the gory pictures, which I swear look a little worse than the actual injuries.

It's official, I'm now a biker chick!

It's official! I have my motorcycle endorsement now and managed to learn how to ride without dropping the bike. I spent the weekend over at the Renton Boeing parking lots puttering around on a 250cc motorcycle in a training class. Man was it a f**** blast! Before this class I had never ridden a motorcycle so I wasn't sure what to expect. I can't say enough about how awesome the experience was. I progressed from being able to walk the bike across the parking lot (no power!) to being able to do fast cornering, stopping, swerving, and slow-speed maneuvers. I can't imagine why anyone would get out on the road without the skills they teach you in the class.

This morning our class learned some advanced drills and then practiced for the skills evaluation we'd have to do later. For some reason I'm still plagued by being unable to make slow, tight, right-hand turns. I have this problem on the bicycle and the motorcycle. There's a part of the skills test called "The Box". You basically enter a box and make a figure-8, which tests you on your ability to make tight U-turns. Despite my being completely unable to keep the bike inside the lines for the right-hand turn I went on to ace the rest of the test and passed! I had some serious nervousness going on for the test and was glad when it was over. One poor guy dropped his bike during the evaluation, which is an instant fail.

Now I just have to go to the DMV and get my new license tomorrow! Last week I put a deposit on a new Ducati Monster but it turns out the Dark model is going to take some time to get in stock. I can't wait to start riding so I'm looking at a used one tomorrow and if all works out I may forget about the new bike and get riding this week!

Just what I need...more gear

Ok, this time I'm a go for the motorcycle training class! I just ordered my jacket, gloves, and helmet and I'm signed up to take classes Oct 5th, 7th, and 8th. Woo! Just what I needed...another hobby requiring expensive gear.

I'm really excited but after checking out bikes at Renton Motorcyles I started getting scared again. Every time I realize how much bigger a motorcycle is than a bicycle I get a little worried. At least the class is on tiny 250cc bikes. Oh well, no turning back now!

I need another bike

No, not that kind of bike. I've been contemplating a motorcycle for some time (actually, about 5 years now) and I've always talked myself out of it. I'm finally getting to the point where I'm realizing that I really would like to learn how to ride and I should just bite the bullet and sign up for the Evergreen training class. In fact, there's one in two weeks, which just so happens to be the weekend where there isn't a cross race. It's also close to work. Is that fate or what?

And just yesterday I sat on my favorite bike in the whole wide world, the Ducati Monster. It fits perfectly and is so very cool. I just really must get one. With that being said, I find myself nervous as hell to sign up for the class. I figure I'll be the one who drops the bike, or crashes it, or smooshes myself, or something else stupid. But hey, I race bicycles so I must be able to ride a motorcycle right? And at least on the motorcycle if I hit the pavement going 30 I'm wearing protective gear. I'm not yet contemplating highway speeds :)

Ok, here I go, I'm really signing up this time...

Cross f***ing rocks!!

I was at Marymoor last night for the first cross practice of the season and it was awesome! Surprisingly enough the rain held off for us. The turnout was huge; there looked to be about 80 people there. Crazy.

I joined a group of about 10-12 newbies coached by Craig and Kristi from CycleU to learn how to mount, dismount, and carry my bike. In the beginning I was like, "You want me to do what?" Kristi and Craig do it so effortlessly. My first few attempts hopping on the bike weren't so graceful but I got better the more I did it. It's also easier as you add some speed. Before long I had no trouble hopping on the bike but getting off was another story. I struggled for a long, long time trying to step off the bike, grab it, and keep running. My first try I nearly biffed it.

Craig put down some barriers for us to hop over and pretty soon I was mounting and dismounting correctly and not killing myself. It was fun to keep going faster and faster and see how close I could get to the barrier without running into it. I think I'll definitely have some bruises today.

It was fun to see the group progressing and giggling like little kids. Everyone had a ton of fun. I think I feel confident enough to try to race this Sunday. What the hell? I might as well just hop in and give it a try.

Returning from death

I think I'm finally starting to energize and get back to my old self. I took a little 2-week athletic break and I'm finally falling back into the gym/running/biking routine.

Sunday was the first "Meet the Women's Teams" ride and it was the first time I had been on the bike since the Eugene Stage Race. It was sooo nice to ride again. The turnout was great and I was able to talk with a lot of gals about racing, answer their questions, learn a bit about them, and talk up the team. I'm hoping to see a few girls turn out for our Zoka team ride this coming Saturday. Unfortunately I can't make any more women's rides since cyclocross officially starts up this weekend and conflicts. Speaking of which....

...it's cross time! The first race in this Sunday and I don't have a clue what the hell I'm doing -- haha! Cross practice starts tonight at Marymoor and I'm heading over to suffer in the rain and hopefully learn how to mount and dismount from the bike while sliding down steep hills. If nothing else I'll get my crashing out of the way early. At least mud is soft.

On a side note, it looks like I've stepped into a new volunteer role to crusade for women's cycling. I have no idea what I'm getting into to. I volunteered to run the NWWC Women's Cycling race series next year. There's really not much to it. I just need to figure out the series races, coordinate with promoters, get sponsorship, swag, publicity, volunteers. Yeah, not much to it at all really.

Fatigue caused by exercise cured by....exercise?

Well, I didn't end up doing Escape from the Rock this year and I'm only a little sad about it. Usually I beat myself up if I skip a race I'm signed up for but this time it really didn't bother me. I usually have no trouble getting amped for races but I just couldn't get myself into it this year. I decided to just listen to my body and scratch it.

I'm not sure if I've been suffering from some sort of burnout but I have been absolutely dead and unmotivated since the Eugene Stage Race. I even had my doctor check me out to make sure I don't have the hypothyroidism problem I had before. A few years ago I was diagnosed with it and it started with just a general rundown, tired, fatigued feeling. It mysteriously went away and I quit taking the medication for it. Hopefully it's not back. Results pending...

I finally got back to the gym last night and I was convinced that after taking a little over a week off I would be hurting bad, but I surprisingly had the best leg workout I think I've ever had! I was dragging when I walked in but after a few minutes on the Precor I was feeling energized for the first time in days!

I was supposed to get back in this morning but unfortunately I fell prey to the cozy bed and just couldn't summon myself up at 6:45. Oh well. Maybe I'll head in tomorrow. It's a sure sign of Fall now since bowling started up last week. I'm off to league shortly...let's hope it goes better than last week. Taking the summer off combined with learning the shot at a new bowling alley doesn't do wonders for your average.

What am I thinking?

I've been a bit burned out the last few days so I took the week off from cycling, biking, and going to the gym. Friday I felt a bit motivated and went for a short run, which is my first in about two weeks. Somehow I convinced myself to head over to Mercer Island for the packet pickup for Escape from the Rock. I figured I already paid so I might as well do it.

I slept in so late today that now it's nearly 1am and I'm finally just now getting tired. I have to get up around 5:45 or so to grab breakfast before the triathlon. Haha! We'll see how I do on four hours of sleep. I haven't swam in about two weeks so this should be interesting!

If I even get close to last year's time I'll be impressed! Here goes nothing...

Eugene Stage Race Day 3: Is it over yet?

The entire weekend I had been looking forward to this day: the day of the hill climb! When I woke up Monday my body was not agreeing with me. My legs were tired, I felt a little less energetic than usual, and my neck and shoulders were really tight and sore.

I didn't execute the best recovery plan after the crit and decided to go to bed rather than eat some extra food when I got hungry. Oh well. Monday's course was 34.3 miles total and consisted of 2.5 laps around this circuit. The first big hill climb was 2.5 miles long. The finish was at the top of the large hill so we would have to climb it three times. Ouch.

Two more riders opted not to start the race and the Women's Cat 4 field was now down to 6 and the Cat 1/2/3 field was down to 7. This bumped me up to 6th place in the GC. I figured if any more dropped out I would get a top 5 finish - crazy!

Our race was delayed 35 minutes while the officials found the necessary follow/lead cars which pretty much negated the nice warmup I had done. Once we finally got rolling my legs weren't feeling chipper. We had a nice easy pace to the base of the big hill climb, where Martha Walsh and another rider took control to keep the pace even to the top. If I had been fresh I really wouldn't have had any trouble but halfway up I was concerned. My legs weren't working for me.

I hit a wall hard and got dumped off the back about 1K before the top of the climb. Damn! I very nearly pulled off at the finish line and called it a day but I decided I had come here to finish the race and finish I would. I kept reminding myself that if only one other Cat 4 rider didn't finish I'd be in the top 5. So, around I went again. The second time up the climb I asked the official if I should keep going since I knew I was probably 25 minutes behind the rest of the pack. He told me to go so I went.

Once I was passed by some straggling men from the 1/2 field I started to get worried I was the last one out there on the course. I asked a corner marshall if I should pack it in and head back to the start and he encouraged me to keep going as well. I honestly have no idea how I made it up the hill the 3rd time. By this time all I wanted to do was invent some nuclear device to blow the damn thing up. As I was heading up riders were coming down to the finish and most were cheering me on and yelling encouragement. At this point I knew I had to have been the last person out there.

I got across the finish line and there were two officials waiting and everyone was pretty much cleared out of there. On one hand I felt elated to have finished but on the other I felt a little embarassed to have been so far behind and to have kept so many people waiting. Maybe pulling out of the race would have been the best decision in this case. Hey, I finished though!

As I rode back down the hill to the start one of the officials pulled up next to me in his car and handed me an Energizer battery. He said it was the only thing he could think of giving me. Haha! I told him I felt bad to be the last rider in and he just shook his head and said, "Didn't you see the number of women who dropped out?". This really was a race of attrition.

I lost 35 minutes in this race and ended up 6th place in the GC about 48 minutes down. I guess I finished about 15-20 minutes behind some 1/2 men and some other women so it wasn't SO bad. I have to remind myself that of the 20 women that started only 12 finished. And most of the ones that dropped out were Cat 4s. It turns out that the other 5 Cat 4s that finished are on the verge of upgrading, so I was out there racing with mostly a 1/2/3 group. No wonder I got my butt kicked. I think I was the only true beginner out there that finished.

Anyway, it was a phenomenal race, I had a great time, and this was a perfect end to the road racing season. It's the first time in a while I'm not eager to hop back on the bike for a few days, though I *am* signed up for Escape from the Rock on Sunday. Hmm...we'll see how that goes.

Eugene Stage Race Day 2: Holy crit!

I had a nice break before the crit to go back to the hotel and stretch and be lazy. I decided to roll out early and get in a good warmup but somehow I didn't end up warming up as much I wanted. The course had two real corners and two big sweepers and was more like a circuit race than a true crit.

16 women lined up for the start and the official told us that lapped riders weren't getting pulled, so we would have to keep going or we'd get a DNF. This is by far the fastest crit I've ever done. The first few laps I kept glancing at my computer and we were regularly pushing 30mph. About three laps in I was angry at myself for not warming up more as my legs were starting to crack. I was sad to see Monica pull off shortly after being dropped which meant she wouldn't be riding Monday. After a few more laps I got gapped off the back with two other riders and that was all she wrote.

After a few more laps I made sure to catch the back of the pack as they came around and not lose them again. By this time two 1/2/3 women had already lapped the field and caught back on shortly after I did. Crazy!

Surprisingly enough the crit was over pretty quickly. They usually seem to drag on but this one went by really fast. After the crit I was still sitting last in GC but since Monica dropped out I bumped up to 7th place about 13 minutes back.

Eugene Stage Race Day 2: 3 miles of pain

I've said before I'm not a good time-trialist, so there's a lot of things that make me happy about a 3-mi time trial.

#1: It's over quickly.
#2: I can't lose that much time in 3 miles.
#3: Did I say it's over quickly?

As seems to be the case in nearly every race I was the first rider to go again and had no carrot, so I just tried to focus and go hard. The course was slightly uphill to the 1.5-mi turnaround and I actually had to drop into my small chainring to keep up my cadence. What goes up must come down and the 1.5 miles back to the start were fast. I just made sure to keep cranking hard since sometimes you get complacent going downhill.

For the first time ever I didn't get passed by the rider 30 seconds behind me - saweet! I did get passed, but only once from someone a minute back. Monica, the woman I finished with yesterday, was the one 30 seconds behind me so we're still probably pretty close in the GC.

See, you can't lose that much time in 3 miles! I'm still likely in 8th place about 10 minutes or so behind everyone else, but I'm hoping I can put out a good effort in the crit this evening and gain back some time. I'm off to carbo load...

Eugene Stage Race Day 1: Bathwater

I left Seattle late Friday night bound for Eugene, OR. The Eugene Celebration Stage Race kicked off today with a 52.4-mi road race stage. The temperatures for this race were soaring into the 90s so I made sure to take TONS of water and accelerade with me. I had water stuffed everywhere. I knew there was a neutral feed zone but I don't like to take my chances.

20 women lined up for the start: 12 Cat 4s and 8 Cat 1/2/3s. The women's race is combined but scored separately. Michelle Conrad from Ti-Cycles and Martha Walsh are both here racing, so there were a few Seattle faces in the crowd. The race consisted of 2 laps around a 26.2-mi course. As expected no one was really interested in pushing the pace much the first lap and the pack pretty much stuck together. One or two ladies were dropped pretty early on a hill climb about 5 miles into the course. Halfway through the first lap a rider careened off the road, down into tall grasses and across gravel, but somehow managed to stay upright and get back on the road. I have no idea what happened but everyone cheered when she made it back on the road. She said she thanked her cross training.

I knew as soon as we hit the hill the second time around everyone was going to surge and sure enough, the pack picked it up a bit. I was doing fine and hanging right there until all of a sudden about 200 ft from the top I started feeling REALLY sick. I had goosebumps all over me and was getting the chills and a bit of nausea. I knew I was starting to suffer from the heat and I just couldn't push myself so I dropped off the back a bit. I very nearly pulled off at the top of the hill but I couldn't concede driving 4-hrs to do only one stage in this race. "Just finish!" I told myself. I grabbed some water in the feed zone and dumped it all over me to try to cool down.

As the pack slipped down the hill I tried and tried to get going but my body was just not working for me and I continued to feel really sick. Thank goodness for this rider behind me, Monica. She asked me how I was feeling and told me to grab her wheel for a bit and recover. She pulled me a good mile or two before I finally started to shake it off. It took me 8 miles to shake the goosebumps and nausea but I finally started to feel better.

Monica and I never caught the pack again but managed to tough it out together to the finish and lost 10 minutes overall. The heat took it's toll and only 8 of the 12 Cat 4 riders finished. One problem with riding in heat like this is that your water becomes bathwater after about 30 minutes of riding. It seemed that no matter how much water I kept drinking I just could not cool down. 10 miles from the finish I finally ran out. Not soon after that a support car came along handing out water and boy was that the happiest moment of my life. Not only was it water...it was ICE COLD water! I dumped half of it all over me and instantly felt refreshed.

The support for this ride was awesome! Without all of the extra water I'm not sure I would have finished. When I got back to the hotel I soaked all the bath towels in cold water and layed on the bed with them all over me. That was the best feeling in the world...ahhhhhh!

Tomorrow is the 3-mi time trial and crit. The next few days will still be hot but not quite as bad as today. Time trialing isn't my forte, so I'm hoping I can just stick in there and not lose too much more time and put in a good effort in the crit. If I can outlast a few riders in the crit maybe I can bump up a few spots.

New toy!

Over the weekend Marcus found a sweet looking boat parked on the road near Juanita so we drove up there Monday to check it out. We loved it and he brought it home last night! Awesome!

It's a 1990/1991 Baretta 22' speed boat with a new 351 engine. Now we're tasked with finding somewhere to put it! Most of the marinas in the area are a long wait for moorage so we'll likely just dry store it somewhere for a while.

I can't wait to take it out for a spin! I'm contemplating ditching the Eugene stage race this weekend to stay around and lounge on the boat. I guess I should probably keep my plans though and do one last race. *sigh* Hopefully the weather will hold for the rest of the month and we'll get plenty of time to play on the boat.

4th at Seward!

The season ending Seward Park Fall Classic crit was Sunday and I ended up with my best finish of the season: 4th! The Women's Cat 4 field was small with about 12 riders, which was a bit surprising to me. I fully expected a larger turnout for this race.

Since most of us had done the hill climb on Saturday I figured we were all on equal ground and probably not quite 100% recovered. We had a great race and there was only one girl that was a bit of a danger. She was very sketchy, couldn't hold a straight line, and kept overlapping wheels. I told myself I'd try to stay up front away from her and I actually managed to do so for most of the race. Vicki from Ti-Cycles got the first prime and another Ti-Cycles gal got the 2nd. One of these days I'll really start trying to go for those.

On the final lap Vicki and two other women from Ti-Cycles broke off the front and I made sure to stick right with them. We launched pretty hard up the final climb and as we started powering to the finish I was expecting someone to catch me from behind but no one was there! I came across in 4th place and surprised the hell out of myself. SAWEET! My best finish of the year! It was even better since Marcus finally came out to watch. Now I'll have to make sure he's there more often.

I'm gearing up to head to Eugene this weekend for the Eugene Celebration Days Stage Race, which will be my last road race of the year. The weekend after is Escape from the Rock and then I think some downtime is in order. Ahhh, what a fun season of racing!

6 miles of pain

After spending most of Friday in bed I woke up Saturday feeling like I had finally kicked my cold so I headed out to Crystal Mountain for the WA State Hill Climb Championship. The course is a 6-mi, 1612-ft elevation gain pain fest up Crystal Mountain Boulevard.

The fun part was bombing down the hill to the start line. About halfway down a little chipmunk sitting in the middle of the road started to get spooked by all of the bikes and did a frantic 'which way do I go' dance. When you're flying nearly 45mph downhill on a bike on sketchy pavement an indecisive chipmunk can be a scary thing. Luckily he darted across the road just ahead of me while I closed my eyes and tried not to look. Probably not the best solution.

I wasn't sure how fast to take off from the start so I just decided to settle into a nice steady pace that I knew I could handle for 6 miles, which was about 9mph. I figured I'd err on the side of caution and save some energy for the top. Before I had even hit a mile the woman 30 seconds behind passed me, no wait, FLEW past me and was out of sight. She ended up with an amazing time of 29:19, which won the Cat 4 race.

Surprisingly enough the ride went quickly and I was more than halfway done before I knew it. Somewhere around mile 4 or 5 the course flattens out and I was able to hit 18mph but I just couldn't will myself to go much faster than that. It doesn't last long and before you know it the climbing starts again. Just when I thought I wouldn't make it much further I finally saw the 1km sign. In the distance I saw a crowd of people, assumed it was the finish line, and summoned all the energy I had to really dig. Of course when I got there I realized it wasn't the finish at all, but the 200m sign. ARGH! At that point I was ready to throw my bike across the parking lot. That last 200m was utter brutality but somehow I made it.

I hoped for better than my time of 36:20 since I figured I'm built more for hill climbing and it tends to be my forte. All in all the race was a blast and afterwards we had a great BBQ and I even won some extra tubes and tire levers from the raffle. Yeah! I turned down doing the weigh-in for the time/weight competition since at my 115 lbs I'd have to climb in about 15 minutes to win that prize.

Gym and throw up...

...are never a good combination. I woke up this morning feeling like I had kicked my sinus infection so I headed to the gym. Big mistake. I just wasn't feeling quite myself and was struggling to hit my normal reps. About halfway through my workout I started getting a bit shaky and I thought throw up was going to become a definite possibility.

Dell, my trainer, stopped my workout and told me to go home and come back next week. I think he's right. Now I'm concerned that my final weekend of local racing may be in jeopardy. I have the State Hill Climb on Saturday and the Seward Park fall classic crit on Sunday. Thank goodness I still have Fridays off from work. Something tells me I'll be spending it in bed :(

Hard work pays off!

I headed south last Sunday for the 10-mile Gear Push TT. Back in March I did the IceBreaker TT on the exact same course and had a slow 32:08 time. This time the weather was much nicer, there was little wind, and I have a new bike and a season of racing under my belt. I still wasn't sure what to expect since time trialing isn't my forte, but I very happily cut nearly three minutes off my March time and finished in 29:19. Yay!

It's still not a horribly fantastic time, but I'm getting there! Back in March I was nearly five minutes from being competitive. In April I did a 12-mi TT on nearly the same course in 35:26 and was about three and a half minutes from competitive. I was slightly disappointed that on Sunday I didn't really average a much faster speed than back in April, but this time I was only two minutes from competitive. I keep getting closer every time! If I get some aero bars and keep riding maybe next year I'll do decently in time trials. The good news is that I definitely improved!

Unfortunately I came down with a bit of sinus infection this week so I've been on the down low the last few days. I started feeling better today and was able to hop in the lake after work for a quick swim. My form is progressing and I was able to swim much farther today, probably because the lake was so calm.

Now it's time to get back in the gym after a few days off. Here comes the pain...

Ahhh....

...damn I love work-subsidized massage. *happy*

Crazy new haircut

Oh yeah, I got a rockin new haircut on Sunday and I LOVE IT! My stylist was convinced I could pull off a pixie and for me less hair maintenance is a good thing. I've had short hair but never this short. Hey, it all grows back anyway so no worries!

Now I can hop out of the shower, rub in some product, towel dry my hair, and run out the door. I can run without hair flopping in my eyes. I can roll down the windows in the car and not have to use 1000 pins to keep my hair out of my face. Saweet!

I signed up for what!? Again!?

Hmmm, it's like deja vu. Last year I signed up for the Escape from the Rock triathlon about three weeks before the event having never done open-water swimming. Hell, I hadn't even swam for at least 10 years. Considering I hyperventilated for most of the swim and had a crappy 1/2-mi swim time of 00:27:25, my finish time of 1:36:47 really wasn't all that bad.

I vowed to spend the winter in the pool working on technique so I could do a bunch of triathlons this year and shoot for a top-20 finish at Escape. Unfortunately it looks like Escape might be my one and only triathlon attempt this year. As it turns out I didn't get to the pool as much as I hoped and the IT-band injury set me back, but I figured I might as well sign up again, so here I am.

I just started running two weeks ago and so far so good but I'm certainly not as fast as I was last year. I'm much stronger on the bike so if I can pull it together I might be ok. I went swimming in Lake Washington on Sunday for the first time this year and flailed around like a dead fish. Then I hopped in last night and despite the chop I only managed to flail around like a half-dead fish. Improvement!

No, really, my swim technique has gotten much better. Unfortunately I just can't quit holding my breathe underwater and so then have to stop every 10-15 strokes to take a breather before starting again. The swim lessons I took have definitely helped. When I'm swimming I'm moving quickly and efficiently, I just need to breathe and keep going.

Good thing bike racing is wrapping up because it looks like lots of swimming is in my future. So just like last year, here I am with about three weeks to go. Ahh, I love pressure!

Can the season be almost over?

I raced the last Thursday night Women's race at PR last week and my legs were absolutely FRIED from the previous day's gym workout. Man was that a painful race! I went for the prime but came in 2nd and went for the win but came in 2nd. Oh well, considering how traumatized my legs were, I was quite happy! I sealed the deal on winning the beginner's series and ended up with some nice swag, including four free entries for next year's racing. Saweet!

The last LWV circuit race was on Saturday and Zoka had a great showing. Jason Williams nabbed 2nd in the 3s and Ian Mulholland got the win in the 4s. GO ZOKA!!!

For the second straight week I nearly got a top-10 finish. This race was F-A-S-T! My computer showed an average of 22mph. We had a field of about 25 women and by the end there were about 14-15 of us still together. Flats aren't really my forte but I hung in there just fine. Somewhere around the 3rd lap of 6 my legs were hurting bad but I managed to stay in there and things got better. I've learned that there's usually a hump somewhere in the race and if you can get over it you always feel better. There was a strong headwind on half of the course so I just kept looking forward to the tailwind section.

Ti-Cycles had 6 riders out there and did a great job controlling the race. Vicki Reinholz from Ti-Cycles captured her 3rd win and won the series overall. She even got interseries sprint points in all the races -- absolutely amazing! Ti-Cycles had a great showing with 5 riders in the top 10.

On the last lap of the race I had a good position on the backstretch but just didn't grab the right wheel coming around the last corner and couldn't match everyone else's acceleration. I rolled across the line with Jill Talcott from Starbucks in around 13th place I think. I can certainly live with that!

I'm ecstatic to be finally hanging with the pack! Unfortunately now that I seem to have hatched some racing legs the season is just about over. There's a 10-mi TT this weekend, and the State Hillclimb and final Seward Park Crit the following weekend. I'm debating heading to Eugene in September for the stage race there but we'll see what happens.

Gig Harbor photos

Photos from Gig Harbor are up courtesy of Amara Boursaw.

Check it out, there's actually people behind me for a change! This is the first picture where I look motivated and determined rather than dead. I think at this point I was the 6th person up the hill. I was just a matter of feet from the breakaway -- argh! Next time...



Here's the finish but unfortunately I got blocked and couldn't sprint. Oh well. Next race I'll pay attention to sprint positioning if I'm near the front again. I'm still waiting to see the official results but I think I was somewhere around 12th or 13th.

Yeah baby...better than a pack finish!

Yesterday I headed to Gig Harbor for the second race in the Lake Washington Velo Circuit race series and my first non-PR race on the new bike. Not only did I get my first pack finish ever, but I very nearly ended up in the breakaway!

The course was outstanding with a 1/2 mile 5-6% hill climb followed by a few rollers, a few descents, and a few fast turns. The Cat 4 women had a great turnout with 25 riders. I showed up very late about 20 minutes before the start and was worried since I had no time to warmup. I lined up in the back of the field and promised myself that next time I'll work on my starting position.

I motored up the hill easily on the first lap and used it to move up to the front. For the remainder of the lap I mostly stayed in the front third of the pack, which is a first for me. On the second lap 5-6 girls broke off the front up the hill and I was shortly behind them. I forgot the 2nd lap was the interseries sprint; hence the fast hill climb! At the top there seemed to be a false flat and I tried and tried to catch the breakaway but just couldn't quite get there -- damn! I was that close to being there! I ended up getting stuck between the breakaway and a small chase group behind me so I decided to soft pedal, save my energy, and work with the three girls behind me.

Our paceline had a rider from Starbucks, TiCyles, and TGH and the four of us did a nice job of staying away from the rest of the field but we never did catch the breakaway. We pacelined together the entire 2nd lap until the TiCyles rider lost her chain on a corner. What a bummer! I never know what to do in those situations. I hate to ride on but we were ahead of the rest of the field and had to leave her. When I sprinted back up to catch the other two girls I finally saw the rest of the field behind us and it dawned on me that we were ahead of most of the field. Wow! It was surreal realizing that half of the field was behind us. Sweet!

After the 3rd and last pass up the hill three more girls caught up to us and we had some extra help for the rest of the lap. Jill Talcott from Starbucks is great and kept shouting at everyone to keep us motivated. The only bummer in the entire race was that we blew right through one of the right-hand turns because the corner marshall was up the street and not at the turn. Luckily we realized it right when we missed the turn and were able to get turned around without losing too much time. Once the guy saw us miss the corner and we yelled at him that the Men's 3s were coming he quickly got back there.

It was curious to me that when we finally hit the 200m mark no one really seemed interested in sprinting to the finish. Points were being given out 10-deep and I was pretty certain there weren't 10 girls in the breakway, which meant some of us would get points. I felt strong and really wanted the opportunity to sprint, but when everyone finally pushed a bit I got blocked on the right side of the road and couldn't get anywhere. Ah well. I've never finished with lots of other riders before so I'm not really used to paying attention to my position for the sprint.

Results aren't posted yet but I think I ended up somewhere around 12th or 13th, which is the best finish I've ever had in a race! Too bad it took me until the end of the season to get there, but at least there's a few races left. It was exciting to finally work with a great group of riders and be up front. I was so excited I felt like I was on speed the rest of the day. I can't wait until next week's race!

Prime + 2nd place!

I was stoked to get out and race the new bike at PR last night. We had a fairly large turnout with 8 beginners and about the same in the Cat 4s. We did one neutral lap through the escape route then one more racing lap through the escape route before staying on the flats. After the hillclimb on the second lap I shot off the front with another girl and we ended up way ahead of the rest of the field. We slowed a bit to let the rest of the pack catch back on. I felt like I was pushing the pace most of the race and stayed up front much longer than usual.

I'm not normally a contender for primes, but when the bell rang I decided I was going out for this one. I made sure to stay with the strong riders and once everyone took off I turned on the after burners and snagged my first prime! I can't believe how much more sprinting power I have on the Ruby -- it's amazing!

Usually on the final lap of the race I sit in the pack and wait for the sprint to unfold but I felt very strong last night and figured I would test my legs and my new bike and try something new. As soon as we rounded the last corner I attacked and much to my amazement when I turned around I had opened a huge gap! The only problem is that I might have been just a tad eager and about 200m from the finish my legs started to fade. The pack was closing in so I tried to dig but another girl bridged up to me and got the win by a matter of inches. Dang! I think if I had waited about 2-3 seconds before I launched the attack I would gotten the win as well.

Hey, I can't complain about a prime and 2nd place. This is the strongest race I've had yet! It's official now that I've clinched 1st place in the beginner's group! I feel thrilled with my improvements since I could barely hang onto the pack the first few weeks. Last night I felt like I was pulling everyone around and a few girls asked why I wasn't racing with the Cat 4s. I swear I really did suck when I first started.

I'm looking forward to the Velo circuit race tomorrow. New bike, stronger legs, more determination! I swear I'm getting a damn pack finish this time!

Vacation!

For the first time in a while I'm on vacation -- woo! My mom flew into town yesterday and is staying until next Friday. We're going to spend some time relaxing on the deck and getting a front-seat for the Blue Angels. I love Seafair! On one hand it's nice to be on vacation but on the other I'm not really sure what to do with my time now. My mom isn't particularly athletic so I can't drag her around biking and hiking. Haha. Maybe I'll use it as an excuse to catch up on some house sketches and reading.

I can't wait to race at PR tonight with the new bike! I'll have mom there cheering me on so I have no excuse not to win!

Getting my ass kicked

Unfortunately I decided not to race the Silverdale crit yesterday as the weather wasn't looking so great. Turns out it was a good decision as it started raining 10-15 minutes before the men's races. Thank goodness I'm finally back to racing this week. The Thursday PR series is back on and the 2nd Lake WA Velo race is this Saturday. I've been dying to race with the new bike. Already I feel like I can ride faster and easier on this bike than the old one -- I can't wait!

I was finally feeling pretty tired last week and I didn't run, ride, or workout for four days and now I'm all better :) I go 200% for a few months at a time then finally have to take a few days off every once in a while when I drop dead. Last week was that week I think.

I just kicked off my new and improved training program and spent the weekend at the gym getting my ass kicked. Joe started me on my new leg workout Sunday and is pushing me pretty hard. Today I did my chest/back workout and after three days in a row in the gym I feel pretty sore. I can bench press 60-lbs now at 15 reps -- woo! I was doing roman chair leg raises on Saturday and Joe said, "Stop...you're not doing those like that anymore." Then he brought over a 15 lb weight and made me grab the weight with my feet and continue. Man does that suck! Six-pack here I come...

My mom is flying in on Wednesday from Indiana so Marcus and I have been trying to put the house together so she doesn't walk in and instantly leave. Haha! One of Marcus' friends called the house 'unbelievable' and I don't think it was in a good way. We cleaned a ton and it actually looks pretty nice now. Having the basement cleaned up and seeing the progress we've made is exciting. All I have to do is finish the bathroom tile tonight, then I'll post some pictures.

I'm getting ready to start running again for real this time. I signed up for Escape from the Rock in September so hopefully I'll be ready. I also need to start getting in the lake and swimming. I think I'm targeting Dec/Jan to try a qualifying marathon for the Boston Marathon. I'll probably do either the Las Vegas Marathon in December or the PF Chang's Marathon in Arizona in January. We'll see how this new endeavor goes...

The baby is here!

After careful consideration last week I decided to go back to Center Cycle and get the Ruby Comp. I figured a $600 savings was more worthwhile than Ultegra components. The Comp and the Expert are the same frame, just slightly different wheels and components. Enough people on Zoka said the component difference wasn't worth the price difference and I agree, so, I have a new bike!!

I picked it up last Thursday and then rode for four days in a row...haha! My legs were shot by Sunday. This bike is awesome! It takes SOOO much less effort to move it compared to the Giant and it has an unbelievably smooth ride. I can't wait to race it! I'll post some pictures shortly.

Marcus finally got the jet skiis licensed yesterday and we took them out for a few hours last night. It was a blast! Lake Washington is so warm it feels like bath water. I rode around for a while just sitting on the ski until my feet started hurting, then I made over 100 bad attempts to stand up and get balance, drinking half the lake in the process. I finally was able to get up and stay up for a few runs.

In case you're wondering, Marcus has the stand-up jet skiis, not the sit-down kind. He's awesome at them but I have a hard time getting going. Once you're standing and going it's not too difficult to keep going as long as you go fast. The difficulty is that transition from sitting to standing. The faster you go the more stability the ski has, but it takes a while to find a sweet spot that lets you get up and running without totally wiping out. One of these days I have to find a way to get pictures of this...haha.

Baby on the way...

No, not that kind of baby. I'm adding a new bike to the family soon -- yeah! After last weekend's incident with the Giant I realized it's time for a bike upgrade. I paid $400 for my Giant and it's been a great bike but I think it's time for something lighter, faster, and a bit newer. My poor Giant got pretty beat up with the winter riding this year and it seems the components are just not handling racing very well.

After test riding a ton of bikes the winner hands down was the Specialized Ruby. I normally don't buy the most hyped things but this bike is phenomenal. I knew the minute I took it out it was the one. The ride is silky smooth, it fits like a glove, and I can reach the brakes and shifters in the drops without even trying. I can barely get my hands around the brakes on the Giant which is a little scary for crit racing. I took the Ruby for a test spin and nearly didn't bring it back.

Unfortunately the shop only has my size in the Ruby Comp model, which is the entry level model with Shimano 105 components. Since I'm racing I'd prefer the Expert model with Ultegra components and a stronger, lighter wheelset. The bike shop put in an order for me and expects one in early August. I guess I have to wait a few weeks.

After test riding some new Specialized and Cannondale bikes I hopped back on my Giant and it seriously felt like I was pulling around bricks. Now I know what everyone means when they say "Wow...that bike sprints well!" When I sprinted on the Ruby it felt so light and responsive. What a huge difference from what I'm riding now. I always thought people were smoking crack when they talked about fast bikes, but now I can feel it!

Since I've tackled this big decision the only one left is figuring out if I want to head to Spokane for the weekend for the State TT Championship and a 65-mi road race on Sunday. If I had the new bike it'd be a yes for sure. Why can't these races be somewhere other than Spokane, which is forecast to be 100 this weekend? I suck at time trialing but I figure the more I do them the better I'll get.

The Poo Circuit Race Series

The course smelled like poo and so did my performance. Ugh. I spent an hour driving to Silvana for the first race in the Lake Washington Velo Circuit Race Series and ended up racing for a whole of 10 miles.

We had a great turnout of around 30 riders for the Women's Cat 4 race. I had told myself that this was going to be it -- my first pack finish. We did five laps on a 5-mi circuit and the course was pretty nice except for a brutal headwind between the first two corners. Unlike Ravensdale the pack today had a lot of sketchy riders. I really need to work on my positioning at the start as I found myself at the back behind most of the scary people. One girl would not stop pounding on her brakes and I was continually overlapping her wheel. That's the fastest way to crash so I started trying to get away from her but just had nowhere to go.

The first lap started fast and almost immediately we had a 7-8 person breakaway that no one seemed interested in chasing. I felt strong and was hanging in there just fine but was still getting unnerved by the sketchy riding. On corners the pack would string out a bit so I decided to use a corner to move up and away from the bad riders.

As soon as we hit the 1st corner on the 2nd lap I shifted and stood up to power ahead of people and all of a sudden my chain just stuck. I swear I nearly endo'd but somehow recovered and sat back down. At that point I realized I couldn't spin at all as my stupid derailleur was all jammed up or something. I started shifting and trying to pedal and finally got the chain coaxed back together but by that time the pack had ridden away. Of course I picked the windiest spot on the course to try to chase back on and there was just no way it was going to happen with the headwind. Not even two laps in and there I am working as hard as I can and seeing the pack ride away.

I was so pissed when I came around the 2nd lap that I bagged it and pulled off at the finish line. I have no idea what I was doing. I have never quit a race before and it's not like me at all to give up. I seriously thought I was bringing up the rear and I just did not feel up to riding solo AGAIN. Shortly after I pulled off I saw another girl standing by the side of the road and then about 5-6 girls riding by on the course. As soon as I saw them go by and I realized how many people had been behind me I got pissed at myself for quitting.

On the 4th lap a girl from Starbucks and a girl from TiCycles pulled off as did a rider from Wines. The TiCycles rider and I started talking and were both pretty irrate at ourselves for pulling out. She said, "What was I thinking? I didn't even realize there were more people behind us." We decided to go back out and do at least one more lap to feel better and had a great chat on the way around.

I still can't believe I did that! If I had stayed in I would have finished probably above at least 7-8 people. I guess I just got frustrated. I can tell you for sure that I'll never be quitting another race again...this feels horrible! Even when I roll across the line last I feel better than when I pull out. Ah well, I'll be out there again next Saturday for more punishment.

Another good PR race

As is usually the case, I thought there was a good chance we'd have a rainy race at PR but luckily the rain stayed away. The track was a little wet in places but nothing major. For a while I even wondered if we'd be having a race since there were only three of us there a few minutes before 7. Luckily some more girls showed up late due to traffic.

I think there were about 7-8 of us but this was the first time I was the only one in the beginner's group. I figured I'd be in for a butt-kicking but it really didn't turn out that way. I had another good race and was able to bridge to a break, stick to the pack, and push the pace a bit in places.

My hamstring was a bit pulled and sore from Wednesday's workout so I decided to refrain from really hard sprints until the end. I saved my energy for the final lap and for the second week I stuck to the pack around the last corner. When the sprint went off I wanted to go but sat back a bit since I wasn't sure my hamstring was feeling up to a 150% effort. I still cranked hard but stayed seated and rolled across the line in 4th spot.

I'm happy with my performance but I regret not going all out at the end. I think I could have caught the top three girls sprinting for the win which would have given me a huge confidence boost. Oh well, I figured I'd rest the hammy for the Lake WA Velo race on Sunday. I'm starting to get the fitness level but I need to be more aggressive. I'm definitely competitive but sometimes I second-guess my abilities and find myself saying "Hmm...I don't think you can outsprint those girls", so I sit up and give it a good effort but I don't bury myself. I've never had that problem before, so not sure what's up with that. I think as I start to gain confidence with my strength I'll get more aggressive. Last week I buried myself and look what happened -- I got the win!

The first race of the Lake Washington Velo series is this Sunday and I'm absolutely seeking my first pack finish. It's a flat course and flats aren't my forte but I think I have the fitness to stick with the pack.

I feel like a slacker today for missing my workout at Headquarters. I didn't sleep too well and was beat this morning so I opted for some extra sleep. Oh well, since the gym is closed Mon looks like I'm stuck with a T/W/Th/F workout from hell next week. I guess I better rest up...