Ummm...I think you're in the wrong place

Today a man and his son came into my work to get a DH bike they got on eBay worked on. The kid told me what he wanted and walked away to wander. The dad stayed to talk. I took down his info, including his address, and commented on the street he lived on. Said street is on a common lunch ride/weekend ride loop, and sees a lot of cyclists. All of a sudden he stopped the conversation, got all tense and his face clouded over. My stomach dropped. He proceeded to go on a mini rant about all the cyclists and how they took up the whole road and are gonna get killed and they take the corners really fast and his neighbor almost hit one and then turned around in his SUV and chased him down and told him he will run him over the next time he sees him. And it's not just the lunch riders....people ride there on weekends too! <----insert bug-eyed look of exasperation here (I kind of wanted to gasp for dramatic effect...sarcastically of course).

Ummmm....I work in a bike shop. I kind of feel like his rant is along the same lines as going into an animal shelter and ranting about all the kittens and how next time you see one you're gonna kick it. Not a great venue if you're looking for sympathy.

I get that people don't ride responsibly and do stupid things that endanger themselves and others, but I still don't get how people think it's ok to threaten other people with their cars.

And I ride road bikes. On that road. Sometimes with other people. You'll get no sympathy from me.

Warm and Fuzzy

I had a (slightly odd) conversation with someone recently about silver linings. Today was a slightly morbid one at work (I'm not really sure why), so I thought I'd try to find some silver linings for myself. It could be a fun game. If not, I'm sorry. Bear with me.

Yucky: I'm poor. It sucks. I spend all my money on racing. I could get a second job, but it would cut into my training time, which would negatively influence my racing, which would be no fun.

Silver lining: I have an unofficial sponsor. Said sponsor is comprised of a good friend/customer of mine and his athletically gifted girlfriend who I call Mom. She supplied me with a huge bag of tampons and shaving cream. He delivered it. I found it really amusing. While this "sponsorship" doesn't make me any less poor, it does ensure I am hygenic and have smooth, silky, raspberry scented legs.

Yucky: I think I had a run-in with one of the not-cool people from my previous post last night. I say I think because I'm not sure if he actually is one, but I'm willing to bet he is.

Silver lining: I ran into him at Hellyer where I was doing another beginner session. Vanessa and my new friend Julie were there. The three of us got to be a group and Michael said we were pro. I'm a sucker for sport-related compliments. We did a scratch race (except it was the beginner session, so not really a race) and I won. I like winning non-races. Michael called me competitive. Apparently I don't hide it well. He made me do another one right afterward and it hurt a lot but was still fun. I got a massage later that night. My massage girl invited me to her birthday party and called me Gumby. Those two things are no way related.

Home Again

I am back in the land of normal oxygen levels, and it's quite nice to not feel like passing out after running up the stairs. Overall the trip was good: I made new friends (who are going to teach me how to surf, allegedly), got some altitude workouts in which should prove useful in upcoming races, and got to catch up with old friends. Sadly, my overall impression of the trip was ruined by some shitty people in the last couple days. It baffles me that grown-up adult people (think ten+ years older than me) can act like such juvenile a-holes. Jerks.

Anywho, here are a couple of pictures of the fun times:

My old friend Andy. He's small. He eats chips in helmet boxes.

My new friend Harj. She always looks like this. Someone should say something.

The view along the bike path on one of my road rides. Saw marmots and chipmunks.

Oh yeah...

I went on an 11-hour first date the Sunday before I left. Kind of impressive. And fun!

I'm In Colorado

I had some time this morning so I thought I should be a good blogger and post something. I'm currently sitting in my room watching the Tour with my roomie in Copper Mountain, CO. It's GORGEOUS here! We've had a couple storms roll in since we got here (so the trails are perfect), but for the most part it's been sunny and a little cold - which I'm stoked about.

Some highlights so far:

- I pretty much have the best temporary job ever: handing 2009 bikes out to dealers from around the world. This week has been all international dealers, the domestic dealers start arriving today. Lycra-ogling opportunities are endless.

-Because of the international group, I've had plenty of opportunities to butcher other languages (French, Spanish, and a little Portuguese so far). I enjoy that. If I'm here next year I'm going to study up!

-I got to see my South African semi-stalker again. I met him at this event last year. He came through my work a couple times about six months ago when he was in town. He tracked me down again this year. Weird.

-I met someone from Ogden this morning and got myself a FREE place to stay for my race! Score! Bike people rock!

-Lot's of drinking. And dancing. I'm sore.

-I started getting a little competitive with one of my friends who used to swim, and somehow it blew up into a swim meet. Right now it looks like about 10 people. Five events (100 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, 100 free, 100 IM), omnium style, lowest score is dropped. Tuesday at 6 pm. I'm going to get my ass kicked.

-On Thursday someone threw a water bottle and it hit me in the face. Later that night in a bar someone's shoe flew off and hit me in the face. Not a good day for my face.

Today I'm hoping to log some time in the dirt, maybe run or swim, and I think I have a road ride in the evening. Somehow my days off get busy quickly!

I'll get some pictures posted when I get them uploaded/from other people.

Later!

It's hot outside

Needed to whine for a second. I'm not a fan of the heat like this. I'd rather it rained. BUT, I get to go to Copper Mountain CO next week for ten days and I'm told the weather is in the 70's. Happy day! Should also be good for getting used to training/racing at altitude (base of Copper Mountain is 9700ft, top is 12000-ish).

I did not race yesterday. The people I was going to tag along with had to bail, and I got stuck at work longer than would have worked well. I ordered pizza instead.

It was good.

I looked deeper into the Ogden hotel thing and I think I might just pony up and get a room. I'm figuring the money I save being in CO (where my lodging and meals are all paid for) will offset the UT trip money a little. If not, I could always sell a kidney or something.

Advice?

In August there is a race I think I should be at in Ogden, UT. I am poor, so am considering driving to said race. It's a 12 hour drive according to mapquest, which is really not much longer than other solo race-bound drives I have done in the past. Since I am poor and can't easily afford a hotel room someone suggested I rent a U-Haul and sleep in that. I have friends that will be there for the race too, and they have agreed to let me use their hotel bathroom in exchange for my driving their CO2 cartridges out there. Has anyone done this U-Haul hotel thing before? Am I crazy for considering it? Advice?

Baby birds

These little guys live in a corner of my work building and are getting ready to fly. Mom and Dad have taken to dive-bombing people on occasion (not me yet). Cute!!

That's REALLY not ok!

You sir, are a douchebag.


http://laist.com/2008/07/07/road_rage_motorist_vs_cyclists_on_m.php

I'm gonna do it!

Today I did round three of beginner sessions at the track. Got an email from a friend about racing on Wednesday. I think I need to do it. Practiced getting thrown for the chariot race and did a points race (got fourth the first sprint and first on the final lap). I'm thinking Miss and Out and Chariot race are calling my name for Wednesday. I'll let you know.

My roommate is watching Cops on tv....makes me feel smart.

Have fun in the heat!

Randoms and a race report

Working on weekend days suck, especially when there is nothing fun to do. Typing codes in Excel files and watching reruns of the Tour of CA (since boxing is on VS at the moment) doesn't really cut it for me.

I went to Hellyer again yesterday and it was fun again. I got a bike that fit me a little better (and matched my kit REALLY well...freaky). I was the only girl so I won all the women's categories...but I was the only one advocating a women's category. I yelled at some guy for messing up the paceline and another guy thanked me for it. Another guy decided he should be my boss and tell me what to do so I promptly ignored him. We practiced bumping, which doesn't work that well when I'm 5'4"-ish and my partner is 6' tall AND he is uptrack on the steep part of the banking....pretty much puts my shoulder on his ankle. Luckily I have some bumping skills since my friend Alicia and I used to practice on rides. We did an Australian Pursuit (I think that's what it was) and I got some kid out before I got passed and was out. Good times.

I'm going again on Monday so I can start racing when I get back from CO (my super secret altitude training camp).

I wrote a race report on another blog thing for my last XTerra, so I'll post it here to look like I posted something.

Yesterday I competed in the XTerra Tahoe City Triathlon. This was my third XTerra Race, and my first since a race-ending crash in May. I drove up to Truckee on Friday night where I stayed at a rep's house since he was out of town (thanks John!). The most notable thing: the smoke was horrendous. Recent wildfires have covered much of Northern CA with smoke, and it appears it's all collecting against the mountains. The last hour of my drive smelled like a campfire, and I was a little worried about race conditions the next morning.

After a crappy night of sleep, I drove down to the race site to set up and get registered. Note to self: bringing one big bag because you are too lazy to pack a small transition bag is dumb, and having to carry it all over the place sucks. The line for packet pick-up took forever, and most people were freaking out they were going to be late. Not a great way to keep calm before the race. After getting checked in, body marked, and set up, I headed down to the water with two of my customer/friends.

The swim course was originally to be two 600 yard laps with a shot beach run in between laps, but the water level was lower than expected so the run was cancelled. I had two concerns going into the swim: the water was cold and I didn't have a neoprene cap, and the water was really clear and I tend to freak out when I can see things in the water (over-active imagination). Turns out the water wasn't that cold, my wetsuit was just fine. As for the clarity, it was awesome! The loops we did kept us in relatively shallow water, and there was nothing creepy to look at/freak out about. The swim back to the beach was interesting - the water was about knee deep for a couple hundred feet before we got to dry land but the lake bed was rocky and slippery, so the fastest way to get to the beach was to swim along in VERY shallow water (think goggles inches from the ground). Weird.

This race had the longest run to transition EVER: up the beach, along a bike path circling the lake, up some stairs, up a hill, across the highway, past some buildings, and around to the backside of transition.

The bike leg of the race was 22 miles, and was pretty fun. There were a couple hard climbs, the whole course was loose enough to make you pay attention, and the singletrack through meadows filled with wildflowers was a nice distraction. I managed not to crash, and only had to get off the bike for a minor adjustment and to retrieve a Gu I had lost (it was my last one of course). I felt like I pushed hard, but didn't think I was in bad shape.

The run was a 6 mile loop that started out with a steep mile-ish long climb. Enter crappy feeling legs: both legs were cramping from the knees down, and I had the strange sensation that my right leg was shorter than the other (it's not). I walked and stretched up the first climb, and by the time I got to the flatter sections at the top I was feeling better. The course followed some flat-ish single track for a while and then went down the first climb, so I ran the rest of the way in and picked a couple runners off along the way. When i stopped running at the finish my legs were shaking, so I'm pretty confidant that I didn't hold back too much.

The race featured free beer and BBQ (yay!) before the awards so everyone hung around telling stories and enjoying the miraculously smoke-free weather before the awards. I was the only one in my age group so I won by default (it happens a lot), but that does get me 75 points in the US point standings which puts me in good shape for Nationals. It was a good day!

Update

Some stuff that's been going on:

-I've been racing XTerra and somehow ended up first in my age group and second nationally in the points race for nationals. I think it's pretty awesome, and am working on getting my place at Nats (and if I'm really lucky, Worlds). Not looking forward to aging up next year!

-I rode at the velodrome for the first time about a week ago! It was fun. I really don't need another bike.

-I got a skinsuit. I'm afraid to wear it. Maybe once I get the track racing thing figured out.

-I signed up for Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2009. It will be shot #2 at the IM distance (shot #1 ended with my being hugged in an ambulance by a paramedic...really could have been a lot worse!)

Keeping myself busy!

The experiment...

I have decided to start a blog for a few reasons:

-I live in the most boring town ever and it's something to do

-Some of my favorite people have moved away and it's an easy way to keep people up to date

-Aaand, I have developed a blog-stalking habit over the last year that started with my reading the blog of a person I know and has turned into my meeting people whose blogs I read and having the creepy "I know things about you but you don't know me" conversation. Most of the time the conversation is internal though, because I don't really want to be that creepy in person. I'm kind of curious if that will happen here (hence "The experiment").

Sorry if it's boring.