Quote of the Night

When asked if he would lead CX clinics again next year for us, Simon said:

"Sure! I love giving back to the sport that has taken sooo much from me."



Are you supposed to sit around and drink a bottle (or two) of wine after a massage?

Snort

My roommate just totally snorted right now while laughing.
That kicks ass

Trans Shockies

Heather actually has me googling this and looking it up and pondering it and stuff.

Holy moly, look at this equipment list!
Does this mean I have to buy a camelback? Usually on our epic rides, I stuff whatever I can into jersey pockets and to hell with the rest. And then, when something goes wrong, or I'm hungry, I just turn to Heather and like a good little Canadian, she is prepared and pulls out whatever I need.
So I wonder if she would be down for doing that for me for 7 days?
7 days?!

and um....bear spray is on the list.

More Perks

All I wanna know is:
Is tomorrow still Simon Night at the Dukes Hotet?
Anybody?
I sure hope so.

Perks

Oh yeah...came home to these sitting on my doorstep.
Thanks Hula Lula for a little Brasilian love.

obrigado!

Memo issued

Crap, now my phone is ringing off the hook. I am going to ignore the persistent ringing and waste company time by posting this instead.

Why does this read like a eugoogily? I didn't die for crying out loud.

"Sabine Dukes, our General Accounting Manager, has announced that she will be leaving Granite in late December.

Sabine has made many contributions in the six years she has been with Granite. During that time she has dealt with the impact of substantial growth in volume and complexity of our business, all the while ensuring that the element of fun remained a staple in her department. She will be sorely missed by those of us who work with her"

Lookout Foxy accountants, I am bringing a big ol box of fun to your department.

Going National

Just booked my flight to CX Nationals. Looks like it is worth a plane flight to get screwed in the mud. Yeehaw.

Where's my box of christmas hats? Gotta pack some holiday cheer with me.

We will have about 6 bellas on the line in the elite race. And a handful in the master races. Lots of cheering to do there. Thank god we're women though. The fields in the mens races are out of control. Yep. Too many men. Oh how I love this sport.

Lots of cheering for all of the other home town homies too.
Maybe even a little race-y race-y myself. But don't tell anyone I wrote that.

Just checked the weather. Highs of 35.
Uhh...
Miss Mary? I have a new idea. It involves rain coats and puffy paints. Email me and we'll conspire.

Laura???!!!!

Velo Bellys

As I sit here and munch on a Clif Builder Bar (no ride today means only 1300 calories, phooey), I am awash in thoughts of an awesome Thanksgiving.

As much as I adore my family, it seems that my most treasured thanksgiving memories come from those spent with friends.

Thank you Amy and Dave for the lavish feast, the warm welcome and the hilarious evening.

And I can't wait for the Mansilks Walkoff or for another fabulous evening of Belly Dancing.

Muss Ich Haben

Whats the cure for the Monday morning blues?
Friends who send you links (literally) like these

Email of the Day

From: Ed
To: info@velobella.org
Subject: Lost Glove at USGP Race #5
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 13:19:25 -0800
I'm sure this is a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng shot but here goes. I raced in your fine event on Nov 19th in the Mens B race and lost my 5 fingered long glove, made by Pearl Isumizi and it is black on the back side and grey on the palm side. It is the left hand. I just bought them so I'm kind of bummed. If you have it I would love to get it back but I know it is doubtful.

***
From: Sabine
To: Ed
hmmm...
maybe if
you tell everyone you meet,
that Velo bella throws the best race ever,
the glove will somehow land in your mailbox

***
From: Ed
To: Sabine
I will start today, telling everyone about the Velo Bella's, the pink hair and the silver blush and oh how they make the surf the city...

(editor's note: yes, the glove is on its way to Portland)

Bad Bellas

Lilly Bella writes, "give him up girls, who is oolaf?"

nu-uh.

Goodness

Yesterday's rain, and today's sunshine brought sweet tacky goodness to the trails. Tires stick to the trail no matter how clutzed out I get. Let go o' the brakes.

Following Suzy's line was sweet. That girl can ride. And damn her but she can sit the whole time on her ss. Ass of steel is what she has.

How come Gary never talks the whole time? How come Jed never stops talking?

Did we really ride all day?

Thanks guys for the good stuff.

Melted

I am completely out of words and ideas today.

Just watching my fellow puddles gather outside the window.

Uuuuurp!

Don't have much energy to type. Here, lookie at pictures instead.

Perfect

Did someone say Hole in the Ground?
I am so there.
Except I won't be jumping into the lake this time of year...
Thanks Jed. This is just what the doctor ordered.

Next Chapter

Alright, cross races are behind us. Time to close that chapter and move on. Seems as if I have a couple of chapters to close now.

Now its time to train.
Gosh, did I type that? Train?
The excitement around the team this year has inspired me.
Intervals and heart rates and riding in the cold, all for some pretend glory? For a cheap t-shirt or chinky medal? Or just because you can. Just because there is joy in a healthy body.

Well, that and all the cute biker boys.

Poaching in San Carlos

Sometimes you learn the hard way and sometimes its the easy way. I always go hard. One of my favorite rides is climbing up Robinson Canyon and descending down Rancho San Carlos where I can dream of an early Clint Eastwood riding up on his good/bad and ugly horse and asking me to join him on his ranch. I was a Clint Eastwood fan at the age of 6. Back then my english was poor so spaghetti westerns were TV institute of choice. Well the other day my friend Leenda and I were on our favorite ride. Going through the gates was our reward for the challenging climb up Robinson. The gates of Rancho San Carlos Estates are closed to the public, you practically need security clearance but Leenda and I always made it through. It was tradition to unzip our jerseys and just let our skin soak the rays of the beautiful landscape. Residents would always wave, smiling and passing us cheerfully. It reminds us of riding in Europe, where the roads and air are clear. Maybe it was our smiles or maybe it was our tanlines, but no one questioned our belonging there for the last few years. Until the other day.

As we entered the gates a woman passed through in her burgandy gold Lexus. Staring at us, making us feel...out of place. We made it through the entrance gates and along the windy oak lined streets when a secruity guy drives towards us. Like usual we have our story... we are visiting friends. This time it doesn't work he asks our names. I throw out Leenda in a hurry thinking Leenda knows someone who lives there. We have prepared many rides for this moment but I forget who to say we are visiting. So I figure Leenda is the name he wants. Leenda looks at me with the "what game are we playing now look" He asks Leenda her name and she says Leenda too. We are so busted. We are such silly girls. Never give your real name. I guess I caught Leenda off guard. At least she didn't give him my name. We plead our case I mean look at us we are harmless what are we going to steal?... we have barely anything on. Then a moment of clarity. We are poaching. We can steal those million dollar hubbies nestled in their million dollar mansions. The woman in the Lexus knew that. Poaching is not allowed in San Carlos. We were escorted out by a security guard apologizing the whole way, saying how he had to do it because he had a call from the burgundy Lexus. I think they even posted our pictures. The entrance gate sign reads "Wanted Leenda and Leenda for poaching".

Crankybegone

Ahh. I'm not cranky anymore. Some sunshine on the face and a round of silly talk with the gals cleared that right up.

Still if feels weird to be back in the real world.

Hangover

I think I have a post event hangover. I mucked up the latest and greatest blog and can't figure out how to fix it. And our website is being all fussy and won't let us post results. I'm all cranky and stuff right now. Probably because I have to return to work and real life today. They're going to ask me how my weekend was, And I'll say "fine" like I always do. I hate the "how was your weekend" question. Rarely does anyone even care or listen to the answer. Maybe today I will tell them that the Swiss love us, I didn't grab any money out of the ass crack, and I was a tomato in a wells sandwich. Just to see if anyone even pauses on that. But probably they'll just reply "oh thats good, weather sure was nice".

Damn I'm cranky right now. And it doesn't help much that I'm confused. But that part is nothing new.

Maybe at lunch time I'll go escape by clicking on Steve's crack.

When your eyeballs hurt

My eyeballs hurt, my stomach is sore and when I shake my money maker instead of the usual cha cha cha sounds, it makes oucha oucha sounds. Not good. These are all symptoms of Event Hangover. Our SurfCity VeloBella Cross event was a mixture of chicki kicki bootie and dickie kicki cutie. My favorite was the UCI official's speech. He actually told us the Swiss would be very happy. Huh? Did I miss a secret Swiss TV network camera or something? Why would the Swiss be happy? Are they all watching us on some reality show called "Event Survivor" because if I missed that and I am still in the running I want to talk to the cameras!! I want to show them my dashboard hula. I know I can win this. All I could think of was some beautiful blonde family cocking their heads watching us on their satylight TV thinking I hope the redhaired hula girl wins. What if they missed the kooky mexican? Maybe I can try out for the event apprentice. The official even gave us tips for our pits, hey should we take tips for pits? At least we shaved ours. So what if the Pit Crew had to cross course to take bikes in and out of the area. No one got hurt and the hula girls danced them to a safe crossing. We sacrificed to the event gods and came out with a beautifully run event. I think the official really just wanted to kiss us.

Why do officials wear golf clothes to mountain bike events?

What is the remedy for event hangover? a boring week at work...but wait I don't work this week ha ha ha I am making my own event everyday...the addiction begins.

Recovery

I am trying to decide whether I want to hop on the bike for a solitary spin, clean up after the tornado that swept through my house and car, or catch up on bella business and email. Since I can't decide, I am sort of wandering aimlessly throughout the house doing nothing in particular.

Except thinking back on a fantabulous weekend. So many great memories. So many funny moments. I packed a whole weeks worth of living in those two days, thats for sure. Life is such a treat.

Some favorites:
The UCI guy telling us that he was "utterly delighted" on Friday
The sun rising over the fairgrounds on Saturday morning.
Making sure that folks at Surf City got leid
Seeing 40 Cat C women lined up.
Getting a peek of Don's daughter racing the kiddie cross.
That bite of Kahlua pork during a rushed moment.
Watching Wendy Simms ride up the run ups
Going hoarse from cheering with the girls
Dashboard hula!!
UCI guy even more delighted. Told us, "Now that was a Cat 1 UCI event, except with more spirit"
Catching a glimpse of the sun setting over the fairgrounds
Working under moonlight
Sharing champagne with a fatigued crew Saturday night
8 glorious hours of sleep
Miss Mary's divine pancakes and a leisurely morning at the Dukes Hotet
Arriving at USGP 6 without a single responsibility
Wondering where the butterflies came from
Watching Chance Noble win!!
Watching Chance's father win
Knowing that Barb secured her spot on the Worlds Team
Yummy! Lots and lots of yummy
Checking out the antics of the Drunkingham crew
Leaving the roar of the crew for the dusty silence of the rest of the course
Enjoying North Beach with other USGP survivors
Getting my boogie on at the Impala
Being the tomato in a Wells Sandwich
Falling lumpily asleep as soon as head hit pillow

I think I may opt for that ride now...

Drunkinghams and Toddlers

There is a hilarious sequence of the Cal Trans Crew here.

Toddler's Jen may have had something to do with this all, yes? But of course, Drunkinham is the instigator. Steve, you can keep those 7 dollars. I see where they have been now and umm...never mind.

The funniest part was that a little closer to the course, where Richard Fries was wandering with his mic, he complained about how quiet and laid back the spectators in Nor Cal were.

ShellyBelly

Just got an email from Shelly and it reminded me how much I miss her and Wizz. Shelly is an OB (original bella, not a tampon) and a huge part of our inspiration.

Shelly is one of those athletes who kept it in perspective. She is a super talented rider, yet the sweetest and most humble and would easily give up crossing the line first for a friend. She is the kind of rider who could make the pro podium at Sea Otter, but yet hoped the podium wouldn't mean she'd miss her chance to cheer on a friend racing one of the amateur events.

When I first started riding mountain bikes, I was the world's worst rider (I keep waiting for that to improve) I would fall over if the wind changed direction. I felt like such an ass out there. One day, I was bumbling around in the hills of ft ord, when I saw Shelly, her husband and a friend pop out on the trail up ahead. They looked so pro, with their fancy bikes and fancy garb, that I actually kind of hid. I was afraid they would see my ubergeekiness and make me stop riding or something. I later had the good fortune of meeting them. They took me under their wings, encouraged me to race, invited me on their team, and never ever once made me feel like the clutzyubergeek I am.

Many many good times were had on rides, races and get togethers after that. Always with the perspective that the racing was fun and all, but the real treat was the flock of us traveling together and having a ball.

So Shelly, with the teams success this weekend at the race and with the whole Kona thingie, I'm toasting one to you. Miss ya kid. Thank you for your quiet inspiration.

Shelly moved away and quit racing for her dream job, but her spirit still here and its what this teams' all about.

Well, that and the black shorts.

Midnight musings

Ha. Amy is still upstairs working on reg stuff. I've had it and I snuck away. Grabbed my laptop and a glass of port and just plum deserted her.

Tomorrow is course set up. UCI boss is coming out at 3:30 to be the pit nazi. Are your pitz in order? No, they are not. They are fricken backwards. But its 80 degrees out and it hasn't rained in like 3 years and the course is as dry as a popcorn fart. So is it really worth any of our time to get our panties bunched up about it? The only person coming through the pit will be Mike Matthews who usually tears off a crankarm or something while racing.

The UCI guys are really gonna get all pantied up when they hear Paul's version of the National Anthem. I'm certain Paul won't do anything undignified, but he will make a statement. Welcome to Santa Cruz. Yep, at what other race will you get a local framebuilder to play the national anthem on guitar? None other race.

Amy's still shuffling around up there.

There's some lively discussion on the NCNCA list about courses and whatnot. Dave Carr must have been bored. I think he did the same thing with a similar rant a few years ago. I love jumping in even if, no especially if, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Sort of like right now.

Port's kickin in....gnite Amy

Email of the day

From: M
To: Sabine
RE: CX this w/e - women's C category
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:43:46 -0800 (PST)
Hey Sabine!! You probably don't remember me, but I met you at one of the MBTB gatherings a few years back...You had some pink wiggly flamigo headband that I ended up wearing home - I still have it if you want it back although I'm pretty attached.
Thanks, M

Girly girl

Dag-nabbit!
I broke another nail moving damn USGP boxes around at lunch. Thats like the 3rd nail this week. Now my nails are all assymetrical and scraggly. And that just won't do.

Fortunately I have a nail file and a bottle of Revlon "fuschia infusion" in my desk drawer at work.

I picked up a box of goodies from Bicycle Trip too. They've already donated the Lemond Poprad, but then they also gave us a box of other goodies. It was full of cute girlie jerseys and socks...so I'm thinking maybe I add a few trinkets to the Women C drawing thingie. Sort of consolation prizes since the contest was way more successful than I ever thought. I hope we get more women out there than they get at that damn Portland Soggy Crusade Series.

It was freakin HOT out at the fairgrounds today. Holy moly this weekend is gonna rule.

ItslateandIwannagotobed

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Raindrops on Roses

Just got this email today. For the record, the Dukes Hotet trio was singing "My Favorite Things":
***
***
From: Keith
To: Sabine Dukes
Subject: Re: REGISTRATION
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:14:56 -0800
Hi Sabine-
Thanks for the quick reply. In that case we'll be there. I think I met you briefly at Interbike - we were on the same shuttle from the Airport and you velo bellas were singing some Sound of Music tune or something. Pretty Funny cause then you blamed it on me to the driver..!! I still laugh...anyway I'm looking forward to the race - see ya!
Keith

Myocardial Infarction

How to give Sabine a heart attack:

Convince Sabine that she and her team should promote a UCI Category 1 event, although the team has only ever promoted one little dinky event and they don't take much of anything seriously. Tell the whole country about this event. Invite the nation's best to this event. Make this event matter for national team selection.

Book the venue 8 months before the event. Call the venue every month and then every two weeks to check in.

Then 3 days before the event, have the facilities guy at the venue tell Sabine that there might be a haul truck dumping base rock, and a crew building a chip seal road, all over the course on Saturday.

Baa_bump...Baa_bump...Baa_bump...Baa_________________

Mirror, mirror on the wall

How come LillyBella never posts on here? I feel like a crazy lady talking to myself in the mirror out here in blog land all by my lonesome.

Unorthodox

haha.
We just used "coconut bra" in a press release.

whew...

wow. I just accepted a new job.
okay. Now comes the hard part.
Maybe I'll do that part tomorrow.

Today calls for a long lunch ride.

left, right, left right left

My roommate showed me this one tonight:

Find out where you stand (politcally) on an xy graph-y thing
http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Suffercross

More

Ride Ruminations

*I should have put more air in my tires.

*Hmmm.. I wonder if we should call the run up, the Kona Big Kahuna Run Up?

*I wish we could find some Maori Haka boys or Tahitian male dancers for our race. Or those guys that dance with fire. Anything polynesian and shirtless.

*God... I love where I live.

*Mooooo...moooo...

*I got a fever and the only cure is more cowbell

*The Dell rules. Beautiful, patient climb.

*Should I turn right and go to the fairgrounds? I could drive myself nuts looking at the pit area again. I don't need to go. I'll just go real quick.

*yep. Its gonna be an bassackwards pit. UCI..SchmooCI.

*mmmmm...Gizdich Ranch....

*I hate my fuckin driveway

You know you're on Velo Bella when...,

You take a break from your Saturday morning chores to see if your coconut bra still fits.

weather.com

I love the 10 day forecast right now. Sun...glorious, subdued, late fall, sun.

Besides checking out the weather forecast like 3 times a day, I'm trying to keep a secret right now and its really really hard. I'm so immature sometimes.

I'mmmmmm gon-naa te-eell
I'mmmmmm gon-naa te-eell

Jed would kill me.

Ma'am, turn the computer off and step away from the keyboard

Giro

This picture is from an article in today's Velonews.com. I don't think I even remember what the story was about. But the picture struck me. I like the epic drama of it and the contrasts of the colorful warm weather kits and the white icy snow.

I love the melodrama of The Giro. The racing, the fans, and the surrounding off bike sagas, are over the top with passion.

Triffen

Triffen makes me happy. Thanks Pazzo. Don't know how you did it. But that's one charmin mother fuckin cat.

Jordanian Wedding

I don't get it.

Double Whammy Redux

We still haven't solved our double pit woes. But the 10 day forecast is clear, so I am not going to get my panties in a bunch over this.

Clockwise, counterclockwise, pits to the left, boys to the right. 60 metres by 24 metres. Do you have your credentials?

Whatever.

Just race.

Double whammy

I think I have a double pit headache right now.

Inspired

One of the joys of devoting time I don't have to Velo Bella, is the priviledge of working with some amazing folk. Velo Bella is a team of people who are all a genius at something. Somehow we have attracted out of this world talent, all willing to work for free (and then some)

I learn so much from them all. I am humbled.

Just wait until you see the USGP#5 tech document and you will know what I am getting all verklempt about.

Its good to b Stupid sometimes

I rode out to the cross races yeterday, but forgot my camera battery. I hate being stupid like that. But, I have to say, I had a great time cheering everyone on. Sometimes, when you really get into taking pictures, you become such an observer of life, that you are not a participant. It was fun yesterday being a participant. We ran around the course to find spots where we could get maximum cheer effect and cheered our little hearts out.

Cheering is fun and all. But I think I want to race again.

2 weeks to go

I am sooo tired of having to walk over boxes of clif bars, and GU and saddles and tires just to get to the living room. We can't even go into the garage. Its going to be one hell of a prize fest at Watsonville in two weeks. I'm going to be in such a frenzy to get rid of everything. I wouldn't be surprised if the winner of the Men B race finds a table lamp and a Netflix DVD in his prize bag.

Sabine

3 Girls, One Fridge

Got my Dewnie shipment today. This month's shipment featured a 2004 Barbera d'Asti. I don't profess to know the first thing about wines (I like Doon for the labels and the funk). I have no idea what a Barbera is. It sounds primal. Like Barbarian. It supposed to be paired with Spicy Cioppino. I wonder if I can get that at Trader Joes?

So, but anyway. My point about the Dewnie shipment was that the second bottle was a 2004 Chardonnay "Pazzo". Pazzo? They stole our Pazzo. They turned down our proposal for Surf City sponsorship, but then went and stole our Pazzo. How's that for fair?

The Pazzo Chardonnay is supposed to be paired with Wild Mushrooms in Beurre Blanc Sauce with Buttery Puff Pastry. I wonder if I have any of that in the fridge? Maybe next to the browning avocado half or the yellowing mayonaise. Our fridge scares me. 3 girls, one fridge.