New toy!

I just got my brand new Dell XPS M1210 laptop today and boy is it sweet! My Compaq finally croaked last weekend after 6 years of faithful service. It's amazing having a new laptop that weighs under 20 lbs! Now all I have to do is get all of my data off the old computer...

Let there be light!

I had a pretty low key weekend celebrating my big fat 31st. Can I really be that old? Frieky. We had a nice dinner at Chandler's Crab House and Marcus got me Polar Power for my birthday. My man rocks! Now I can train with power and get my legs really cranking -- saweet!

Since I've been doing quite a bit of night riding I shelled out the dough yesterday for a CygoLite 300. I've been using Marcus' little CygoLite since he doesn't use it, but found out the hard way that it doesn't keep a charge for much more than an hour and a half. I ran out of light Thursday night north of Coulon while headed to Bellevue. Fun! I was impressed with Marcus' light so I bought it's bigger, badder, brighter older brother. If you're looking for a kick-ass light, this is definitely a winner. I can light up the entire Burke-Gilman on just the medium-low setting.

Right now I'm hoping I haven't developed a new knee issue. I got a new pair of winter riding shoes and did a crappy job putting on the cleats, so that could be the culprit. I got the cleats adjusted but I keep having some pain in my left knee when I bike. I skipped the team ride this weekend to give it some rest and did a light south lake loop ride instead. It felt great yesterday but gave me issues on my ride tonight. I'm not sure if it's a new injury from biking, a strain from the cleats, or a leftover issue from my motorcycle crash. I hope it goes away fast.

Gritty bike lanes

I rarely have much trouble with cars when I bike commute, but for some reason the last few days I've had several cars just not giving me enough room. Most of the time I ride as far right as safely possible in bike lanes; however, if you've ever taken the time to stroll along a bike lane (and if you haven't, you should!), you'll notice how they're littered with glass, debris, rocks, gravel, and all sorts of nasty things. Having room to maneuver around is a must!

The bike lanes right now are in especially bad condition due to all the recent storms and snow. There's so much sand, gravel, grit, and debris that really the only clear part is about a foot wide and right next to the road. Too many cars buzzed by way too close on Rainier Ave this morning. I had a guy nearly hit me with his side mirror. There's tons of room there to slide a few feet left and give us the benefit of the doubt.

If you think some bikers are riding a little too close to the road, the debris in the bike lanes is probably the reason. We're not doing it on purpose, it's just that riding in sand isn't so much fun.

Biking extravaganza

On Saturday we had what seemed like our first official team ride in nearly a month. The morning ice the past few weeks cancelled most of our rides. I think over 30 Zokas showed up to do a Bothell-Snohomish-Monroe-Bothell route. A few miles into the ride we had some sketchy encounters with slick roads so a few people decided to ad hoc the route. With over 30 riders and only a general idea of the plan we all ended up split up into small groups that headed every direction. The weather was fantastic for riding!

I ended up riding with a group of about 7-8 people and we successfully completed a Bothell-Snohomish-Bothell ride of 42 miles complete with a nice coffee break and a steep climb up the hill on 172nd near Highway 9. When we made it back to the Bothell P&R we were reunited with a steady stream of Zokas, all eager to compare their stories of "hey, we went this way but you guys went that way and where did that other group go?" Good times!

Sunday I rode down to Renton for our 1st annual Zoka Women's Skills Clinic. It was a blast! I was so lucky to have secured the help of Gina, Martha, Dani from TGH, and several other Wines riders. Unfortunately several gals on our team weren't able to make it but I think we had at least 10 there, which was awesome. We spent 2 hours practicing pacelining and all the ladies did a fantastic job. Everyone had a great time and said the experience boosted their confidence and skills. I'm ecstatic I managed to pull off the first official Women's clinic without a hitch -- yay!

"Cat"tastrophe

As I was filling out paperwork at the Emergency Cat Clinic tonight I saw that the front desk attendant had written down my reason for visiting as "dog jumped on head." I wish there was a better way to explain it....

Pooh-Bear, my 13-yr old Siamese, used to be dog-friendly but she prefers to stay downstairs out of the way of our 1-yr old boisterous Lab. He stays upstairs so it all works nicely. Then enters me. Right before Top Chef started, I took the kittie upstairs to visit the dog. He was sitting calmly on the couch so I set her on the ground...big mistake. As soon as she hit the floor the dog jumped down to greet her and jumped right on her head.

I swear it all happened in slow motion. Now is a good time to mention that Pooh-Bear weighs all of about 7 lbs and Jake weighs nearly 90. I knew this wasn't good, especially when she bolted downstairs with a blood-curdling Siamese death cry. When I got down there she was rolled up on the couch nearly having a seizure and I couldn't tell if blood was coming from her mouth or nose. I freaked out, immediately called the Cat Clinic, and poor Marcus, who has been sick all day, drove us to Fremont. Thank goodness halfway there she started recovering. I think she went into some sort of shock. I probably would too if a 90lb dog jumped on my head.

The doctor said she was very lucky. She jammed her upper canine and since she already has bad teeth it started bleeding. The doctor said she will need the tooth removed, but since she has severe periodontal disease, she needs both teeth removed anyway. She has a mild concussion, a fat lip, and I'm sure the extra excitement didn't help her heart murmur. Poor kittie.

Man that scared the hell out of me. When we got home Jake was sitting in the corner with his typical "I'm so sorry....what did I do?" cowering posture. Poor little Pooh-Bear is now fast asleep on my lap. Now that the dust has settled a bit I wonder how people with kids cope...

Awesome crash video

King5 posted this awesome video of cars crashing all over an icy street in Portland. The first car is totally out of control. If you crank up the volume you can hear the unfortunate driver just revving the hell out of the car. Probably not a good idea...

http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/showVideo.php?vidId=114054

F**** Ouch!

My work subsidizes a gym membership over at Pure Fitness so a few months ago I signed on since I quit seeing Joe downtown at Headquarters. I figured I'd just stick to my workout plan on my own but I just wasn't getting the same quality workout and my motivation started sliding. I get caught up at work and then all of a sudden it's 5pm and I didn't get to the gym and now it's too late so I'll go tomorrow and then the same thing happens the next day.

While I was doing a workout there last week a trainer approached me and helped me out with a few exercises. I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical about most trainers but the guy seemed really cool and had a lot of great energy so I ended up signing up on a 6-week training plan with him. I went for my first session today and I'm absolutely surprised and excited about how badly I got worked. I went in there seriously doubting the quality of the plan I'd get and I got my butt kicked all over the place. I had the best upper body workout I've probably had in a long time. I'm excited that I'm going M/W/F every week! Now if only I could raise my arms so I could type....

Unleash the Roomba!

Marcus has been talking about a Roomba for some time so I bought him one for XMas. In case you don't know, they're a little robotic vacuum cleaner made by iRobot. They also make a Scooba, which is a robotic mopper. I decided we sweep the hardwoods more than we mop them, so the Roomba would be ideal.

We finally got the downstairs bedroom all cleaned up and decorated and decided to unleash the Roomba for a test run last night. It did a suprisingly awesome job! The only downside is that it's a bit noisy, but it is designed to run when you're not around so no big deal. It was fascinating to watch it spin circles and run little patterns around the room. It vacuumed up nearly the entire room in about 45 minutes and missed only where it couldn't reach.

The funniest thing was watching the cat's reaction. She regarded it with a bit of uncertain curiosity. Once the Roomba headed right at her she started backing up, raising up her fur, and then decided at the last minute before the collision that the only safe place to watch this new toy was from the bed. Haha.

Having this little guy running around the house seems so futuristic. And it's damn entertaining. It may not be the quietest or fastest vacuuming machine, but the fact that we can let it go and then do other things rocks. The Roomba rocks the house in my book!

Seattle is done...

Having spent a good portion of my life in Indiana, I've seen some serious weather. I've been in three tornadoes, tons of snowstorms, icestorms, thunderstorms, you name it. I don't think any were as entertaining as watching a trace of snow hit Seattle.

I'm convinced there's some secret material that the DOT uses in roads here that instantly turns to ice when even a single snowflake touches it. I swear I never drove in a snowstorm in Indiana that turned the roads into the mess that happens here in Seattle. Icestorms...different story. But snow?

Sure, people panic here and abandon their cars in the middle of the road (which is kinda funny). At least back home they had enough sense to crash them way off the road before leaving them. The hills here make snow traveling sucky but even the flat roads are ridiculously slick. I think Washington state has like two snowplows that are stuck at Snoqualmie Pass or something. I'm not even sure if they've heard of de-icer here either.

I left Renton at 5 today and since my commute is 9 miles between Renton and Seward Park I have it lucky. I was surprised to find Seward Park Ave to be a complete mess with about 1-2" of snow. Cars couldn't make it up the very small hill at Othello and some poor Metro bus was hopelessly stuck...in an inch of snow. I love it!

Quick...grab a generator....

The Pacific Northwest is about to be overcome by....*gulp* Winter Storm 2007. Media sensationalism here is awesome. I couldn't help but laugh last night when a Q13 reporter said "don't go out in your car without at least water, a bag of food, and a flashlight." That's right. You never know when you could be driving along I-5, end up stranded in a 20-ft snowdrift, and never see civilization again. I'd say the chances are pretty high that you could get stuck and not be able to walk somewhere for help. This is Seattle after all.

I guess this is about the time that Marcus usually tells me I'm bad at the whole sarcasm thing. Thank goodness we just got a new spinning bike setup at home...something tells me I'll be indoors the rest of the week due to icy roads again.

What happened to the busy weekend?

The plan for the weekend was supposed to be:

Saturday morning: Zoka team ride.
Sunday morning: Women's ride in Leschi
Sunday afternoon: Zoka women's skills clinic

What happened? None of the above. I woke up Saturday still feeling crappy from the cold and after seeing it a bit frosty out again I bailed on the team ride. Turned out to be a good decision I think as I heard several people hit the deck trying to ride on slick roads. I woke up feeling much better today but unfortunately the weather didn't seem the best to ride in so I stayed home this morning.

The biggest bummer was that I had to end up cancelling our Zoka women's skills clinic that was planned this afternoon. I was really looking forward to getting all of the gals together but after consulting with Gina we decided that learning how to paceline and corner are hard enough for newbies without 30+ mph winds. So...postponed till next weekend. I guess I ended up with a few extra days to recover, but man I gotta get back on the bike soon. It's been a week already! The weather tomorrow looks promising so I think I'll just commute to work.

Damn cold

I thought I was finally shaking the cold I've had for the past few days but today it's still hanging around. I haven't biked since last Saturday and have fallen off my training for the week, so I'm a bit irked. I had planned to do a power builder tonight but I'm not sure I'm up to it. Now I don't know if I should even do the team ride tomorrow or not. It shouldn't be a hammerfest but it looks like it'll certainly be rainy and chilly. *sigh* I hate being sick.

From sun to....snow!?

I got back to Seattle today and shortly after getting home I walked outside with the dog and saw some weird sleetish/snow combination falling to the ground. I have to say that given I was in 60-degree sunshine a few hours prior I was a little bummed. But, it's nice to be home. I still get all warm and fuzzy when I get back to Seattle, even if it's not warm and fuzzy outside.

While waiting to board my flight in Phoenix an America West flight attendant that frequently flies the Phoenix - Seattle route enlightened me with his humorous description of Seattleites. He said it's always obvious who lives in Seattle and who doesn't. Apparently you look for the following:

• Environmentally friendly clothing colors. Shades of dark green, beige, brown, or gray and of course any type of khaki that blends in with the Seattle gray.

• Hiking boots, clogs, or something resembling a hiking boot / clog combination.

• Luggage disguised as a backpacking pack.

• Some type of weird, funky, strangely colored bag, hat, or accessory.

• Usually has coffee.

Then I looked down at myself and took inventory. Let's see....dark brown furry clogs. Beige hoodie thing. Orange patchwork Prana bag (i.e. the hippie bag). Oh yeah, and my carry-on is my Lowe Alpine backpack. Luckily, I had just finished the rest of my mocha and tossed the cup in the recycle bin. I would have thought the flight attendant was making fun of me until I looked around and saw about 6-7 similarly attired people. Weird.

Can I bring back the sun?

I flew out of Seattle on Sunday to meet my dad and stepmom for a mini-vacation in Tucson. I've always wanted to visit the area and I picked a perfect time of year. Every day has been gorgeous, sunny, and 60+. Can I bring the sun back to Seattle? I don't think I realized how much I've missed it....I could sit outside for hours and soak it up. The first night we drove up Catalina Mountain Dr and the saguaro cactus with the nearly full moon was the stuff of postcards. Check out these awesome pics!

The only bummer is that I managed to pick up Marcus' nasty cold just in time to get on the plane Sunday. Yesterday I was miserable with a fever, head cold, and all the nasties. We opted to do the local tourist thing and check out the Sonora Desert Museum, drive some of the scenic routes, and tour the San Xavier del Bac mission. Luckily I woke up feeling much better today and managed a 6-mi hike in the Sabino Canyon Rec Area. I still feel semi-crappy, but I'm on vacation so I have to ignore it.

I'm just bummed I didn't get to rent a mountain bike and hit the local trails. My dad and stepmom are dropping me off at a swanky Phoenix resort tomorrow night on their way out of town so I'm hoping I can rent a bike there and hit the trails. I know, resort sounds so poshy, but I got a great rate on Expedia and it's right at the base of hiking / biking trails. Since I don't have a car down here I don't have to go anywhere to get out. Perfect!