Snowshoeing!

I figured the weather Saturday would be crappy for riding, so I headed over to Hurricane Ridge with two gals on our cycling team to do some snowshoeing. It's been four years since I've been snowshoeing and I've been dying to get out, but it's just not the sort of thing I'm eager to do solo. I haven't been to Hurricane Ridge in years and neither Karly nor Julie had been, so we figured it would be a great place to go.

We headed out on the Edmonds ferry at 11:30 but when we finally got to the gate at the base of Hurricane Ridge Rd, the ranger told us they had closed the road about 15 minutes before we got there. Bummer!! He said it's pretty rare that they close in the middle of the day, but up top there were 60mph winds and the snow was dumping. Cars coming down had about 12"-18" of snow on them. Yikes!

We headed back down to the 101 and ended up going to Deer Park, which is just a bit east of Port Angeles. We drove as far as we could and then got out and hiked about 2-3 miles up the road on snowshoes. The weather was great, the wind was calm, and we even had some snow so it turned out to be a beautiful trek. I think it took us about 2.5 hours to do 5.5 miles.

My hamstrings were shot from Friday's gym workout, so it was extra challenging but a great workout. I forgot how taxing snowshoeing is, but it's so much fun!

More cowbell!

Up until yesterday afternoon I hadn't planned to race Kringle Kross, but I figured what the hell. How could I pass up the last cross race of the season? When I showed up to run registration I saw these awesome Moen cowbells hanging up and thought, "Wow! I want one of those!" A few of my teammates told me to win the race and then I'd get one since they were handing them out as prizes. I thought, "Yeah right!"

Well, I didn't win the race but I got my first podium finish in my career! Our Women's 4 field was pretty damn small, but hey, I still got 3rd and snagged me a kick-ass cowbell. The only bummer is that I had no idea I got 3rd so I missed my podium photo op! Oh well. My teammate Landon took a picture of me later in the day, so that's ok.

The race was very flat and very fast and the start was loads of fun. The promoters organized a Le Mans start, so we had run to a tree and around it, then back to our bikes before we could take off. I've gotten a crappy start in every race but this one! I'm a runner baby so I was rockin'! I settled into a good pace and maintained it the whole race. My remounts were definitely a bit rusty but I survived and stayed upright. The big water puddles on the back of the course froze my feet in no time but it was fun.

I think the race attracted about a third of the normal cyclocross crowd. Although it was pretty cold out, the weather couldn't have been better (it was dry!), the course was fun, and the prizes were awesome. It's too bad more people didn't come out since it's likely the only chance we'll have to race at Magnuson. Apparently they're tearing up the fields shortly so that's why we were able to go out there and race.

I might have to put my cowbell next to me when I go to bed tonight. It's the best prize I've ever won!

3:44!?

Why the hell am I still awake? Ugh.

The mud bomb

I spent nearly two hours today cleaning my car interior. I had the doors open and was getting ready to start vacuuming when the carwash attendant took a look and said, "Whoah! What the hell happened in your car?" Can you say 90 lb muddy dog?

Last week after the CycleU TT I let Jake run around in a field playing fetch. Since it was dark I had no idea he was plowing right through a huge mud bog. He hopped into the car before I noticed and then promptly let loose a huge shake. It took about five seconds and the whole interior of my car looked like a mud bomb went off inside. Ah, the joys of dog ownership. Luckily, once the mud dried it all vacuumed out pretty easily and after some detailing looks good as new. Never underestimate the power of a VW :)

I'm a complete retard

If you're part of my Facebook network then you probably got some interesting graffiti from me through the FunWall app. Talk about a joke gone awry. An old friend of mine sent me some interesting anatomical graffiti today, so I thought I'd have fun with it and send some back. Only problem was that it went out to my entire network by accident. Can you say embarassing?

My response to my friend: "Damn it you suck. I sent those stupid boobs to EVERYONE in my network. Twice. Grrrrreat."

My friend's response: "OMG chris!!!!! I sooooo sent that to you by accident!!!! I got one from a buddy so I was sending him back one.. but I just sent that to EVERYONE on my list!!! but YOUR BOOBS are awesome!!!!!!! ha ha ha.."

I can't stop laughing but it's so horribly embarassing I think I might have to remove my Facebook account now. Ugh.

I feel better now

Tonight I headed to CycleU for my second indoor TT session. Last time the CompuTrainers died before the end, so I don't have a time to benchmark against, but I was averaging about 18.5mph and probably would have finished the 6.2-mi course in around 20:30.

Despite my stomach arguing about the two Luna Bars I scarfed down on the drive over, I felt pretty good but just couldn't turn the pedals. Then on the way out my bike felt a little funny, so I checked it and discovered my rear brake was off kilter and rubbing. Duh! So maybe I feel a little better now that I averaged only about 17mph tonight, which just didn't seem quite right. Maybe next time I'll get a real benchmark.

You're a rotter...

...Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots.
Your heart's a dead tomato splot
With moldy purple spots,
Mr. Grinch.
Your soul is an apalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable, mangled up in tangled up knots.

Yes! My favoritest thing in the whole wide world is on CBC right now :)

Still fighting the cold...

...and I didn't make it to Kelly Creek :( Every time I think I feel better it comes back. Ugh. Hopefully one solid day of staying in bed got rid of it for good this time. The only problem with sleeping from noon - 7pm is that once you wake up you can't go back to sleep. So now it's almost 3am and here I am wide awake. At least I managed to launch a freshly updated grepgirl.com. I just need to get my portfolio online and I'm good to go.

What a nice surprise I got in the mail today. Apparently the balance in my condo escrow account is too high so I got a nice refund. I'm scared to cash checks like that since they usually find some way to want them back in about 30 days. At least I can fatten my savings for a bit, though it's funny how the check is almost exactly the same price as that Kona mountain bike I've been drooling over. Maybe it's fate.

Cold time

I guess I was having sinus issues for a reason yesterday. I figured it was allergy related until I woke up this morning with a full blown cold from hell and sore throat. How do you go to bed feeling just fine and wake up with this? Ugh. Time for gallons of OJ. I *will* be going to Kelly Creek tomorrow damnit.

You know you bike too much when...

...you blow a snot rocket while walking across the parking lot to work and everyone reels in disgust. Ooops. I guess that's only marginally acceptable when riding. My bad.

Portland rocked!

Portland delivered an epic weekend of racing in the mud, wind, and pouring rain. A few times Saturday we even had some snow flakes coming down (see picture at left). The crowds were crazy, loud, and obnoxious and the racing was nonstop.

Saturday morning I lined up with JoAnne for the Women's B race. Despite the dry conditions the course was muddy from the previous days' rain and it was barely 35-degrees out. Brrrrrrr. Both of us narrowly avoided a nasty crash right at the gun that took out several gals on the pavement. The first lap of our race was pretty marred with crashes and I quickly got stuck in the back, but managed to slowly move up and pass a few gals. The course was mostly flat, fast, muddy, and slippery. I had a blast despite not having a clue where I finished. I was just out there to have fun and get dirty! The highlight of my day was being able to ride a slippery uphill section of the course that gave a lot of people trouble. It's great to get crowd feedback about that sort of thing!

Zoka had a fantastic showing on Saturday. Landon finished with a decisive victory in the Men's C race and Andy would have had a great finish but was forced to abandon after his rear derailleur detached itself. JoAnne got 13th in a large, strong women's field despite her saying that she had a bit of an off day. In the Men's B race, JDub visited the podium with 3rd, Jeff was 13th, Chip nabbed 22nd, and DiRtY was 46th in a field of over 100. Rick claimed a 9th place finish in a large 60+ field of Master's. I know Bill was out there too but I'm not sure how he finished. Rock on!

Watching the elite racers later in the day highlighted the whole weekend. It's unbelievable how friekin' fast they are! Tim Johnson won the elite men's race averaging just under 16mph for the entire course. Crazy. Georgia Gould put in a great effort and overtook Katie Compton (negotiating a turn in this picture) for the win in the women's field. The crowds were rowdy and the mud made it even better!

I would liked to have raced both days this weekend, but I'm still working out a calf muscle tear that continues to bother me. I should get a clue and take some time off. I showed up Sunday as a spectator and cheered on our racers. Unfortunately I didn't get too many great shots because the pouring rain wreaked havoc on my camera focus. Though the temperature warmed a bit for Sunday, the rain fell steadily and turned the course into a muddy, soupy mess.

Landon doubled up for the weekend and won the Men's C race again today. Awesome! JoAnne had a great race and killed her fellow Seattle competitors to nab 10th. A large crash at the start of the Men's B race took out Chip and DiRtY, but Chip was able to finish the race strongly. DiRtY suffered bike damage and had to withdrawal. He lamented how his 30-second race cost him $1 per second. JDub revisited the podium with 2nd place in the Men's Bs and I think Jeff finished in the top 10.

Unfortunately I didn't stick around as planned to watch the elite races. After spending three hours on the course I was soaked, frozen, and ready to bail. I'll be eager to hear how the rest of the day turned out for the people who stayed. I read on Velonews that 40mph wind gusts took out a tree during a later race. Crazy!

What a blast of a weekend! I did snap a few more photos, but didn't get that many mostly due to the weather.