Not April Fool's

I just got engaged last night.


Don't know if I will be able to do my usual plethora of Friday blogging...

wow...

I'm so lucky.

Countersteering

After some ridiculous huffing and puffing on my part, I did look up the physics of it.

Now I am even more confused.
Something about turning one way to go the other?

~

But, what if you go off course completely?
How do you get back on track?


By looking through the turns and never losing sight of whats important.

Pupus please

Mmmm....Hula's

poke and da big kahuna and sweet potato fries and a pink bimini....

Dickiedos and Dorks

Our free web statistics thingie lists all of the searches that land people on your site. I don't normally pay attention to this list, because...well who cares. But today, while taking a brain break from this stupid bank recon, I looked at the list.

And it cracked me up.

People will type anything in that search bar:


Last 20 Searchengine Queries
15 Mar, Wed, 19:56:46
Google: craigslist: yurt
18 Mar, Sat, 05:34:50
Google: dork riders
18 Mar, Sat, 17:11:47
Yahoo: nicole freedman shaklee
19 Mar, Sun, 01:10:15
Google: wiggly headband
19 Mar, Sun, 13:37:53
Google: ornopa
20 Mar, Mon, 10:09:56
Google: funny evite responses
20 Mar, Mon, 13:28:14
MSN Search: babble gallery
20 Mar, Mon, 19:44:14
Google: steve smith drunkingham
20 Mar, Mon, 22:56:25
Google: ornopa
22 Mar, Wed, 11:05:43
Google: velo bella pocket money
22 Mar, Wed, 14:47:13
Google: cycling hotties
24 Mar, Fri, 22:30:50
Google: olaf vanderhoot
25 Mar, Sat, 13:38:57
Google: nicknameless
27 Mar, Mon, 11:03:40
Google: Dickiedo Belly
27 Mar, Mon, 11:22:34
Google: bella schoolgirl
28 Mar, Tue, 04:25:06
Google: Nicole "Snerf" Freedman
28 Mar, Tue, 15:07:12
MSN Search: bella
28 Mar, Tue, 17:00:26
Google: "ceo of tmobile"
28 Mar, Tue, 19:08:36
MSN Search: Jennifer Tilley naked
29 Mar, Wed, 13:10:58
Google: ricky carmichael motorhome driver

I'm not sure how I feel about us coming up on a seach for Dickiedoos, dork riders, and wiggly headbands.

And the yurt is not for sale.

And Jen is wearing clothes.

The Cat's Meow

This race has always scared me.

Not sure why.

It could be the hill.

It could be the crappy pavement and a sketchy descent.

But quite honestly, its more likely the large crowds witnessing your personal agony.

Last year I watched a dear teammate who had demons as big as mine, conquer them at this race.

Because every once in a while you have to do something that scares you.

Purrrrrr.....

And I have a hangnail

Stop the presses, Boonen has a cold

If I ignored your email tonight

You can blame it on the blog explosion we've had recently. It seems there is too much fun stuff out there for me to read and procrastinate with.

I'll try again tomorrow night.

gnite

The big engine that couldn't

You ever watch those big 18 wheelers chug a lug up I-80, with diesel smoke spewing out the pipe and the rig's torquey engine fighting it the whole way?

That was me at Orosi this past weekend.

oy.

Wrench in the plans

backorders suck.

Just when you thought all the pieces were in place...

Now I won't get to blog this morning...

Weekend what up

So this weekend we are headed back to the Central Valley once more.

Can't get enough of those damn bloomin almond trees n bees.

We're racing Orosi tomorrow. I thought the Central Valley was all about the rolling flat races? 60 miles and 4,000 feet of icky for this race. A training ride for me. Gonna do the junk in the trunk ride with some of the Fresno Bellas. And maybe a Bunny Bella, even though she doesn't really have any junk in her trunk.

Hanford's on tap for Sunday. Shhh....don't tell anyone but there is a $1,500 prize list for the women at this race. That almost beats a misspelled Tshirt.

Decision maker

I love my mountain bikes so much that I haven't bought a new one in over 5 years.

But those new Konas were too much to resist.

Especially the squishy ones.

And after riding Sea Otter on the ol hardtail last night...I am thinking the new Kona FS is more the ticket. And what do you know...it just arrived in the mail today.

But now I gotta build it real quick like.

And there are all these hoopty options.

Disk or Vbrake?
Mechanical or hydraulic?
Tubeless or tubed?
Riser or flat?
Integrated or splined?
Carbon or aluminum(cranks)?
Peanut Butter or Caramel(kisses)?

One mean otter

Owch.

Just did ONE lap of the new Sea Otter course.

Mama.

The first part with the new singletrack section was creepy cool fun. The trail dipped and dived around a surreal section of burned craggly trees and eroded marscape cliffs.

But that was all just a tease.

The rest of the course is just heinous.

Going UP all the fun DOWN trails. Going down a fireroad just to make a Uturn and climb back up a paved road? Hello?

Still need to decide if I really want to do this. Nothing worse than crossing a finish line that was packed up an hour earlier.

On the other hand, it really is beautiful out there right now.

Ein Prost!

This morning, I woke up and realized that it was already Thursday.
And that tomorrow we would start the weekend action again.
Already.

The week just flew by.
They have been flying by like that lately.

Life does that when you are having fun.

And then I remembered my mom. She's a little freaked out because she will be turning 70 next month.

She's freaking out because she says the last 10 years just flew by. And I'm certain she's thinking that the next 10 will go even faster. And she can do the math.

So can I.

~



Prost! to living life so that it flies by, but remembering to savor and delight in every moment.

Nothing in particular

I haven't received my umbrella yet, so if its raining where you are right now, don't blame me.
~
I had a blast racing in the wind at Zamora. It was one of the hardest short races I have ever done. But I had fun. I have my silly great teammates and oV to thank for that one. Damn him if he hasn't made me like the wind. I still don't consider it an essential nutrient though, cuz thats just freaky.

Lula wrote a real fun race report on Zamora, I hope to post it later.

I didn't have as much fun at Landpark. I was just not feeling that race at all. Nor was I digesting the sundriedpestoeggs.
~
My hotmail account is down right now. That sucks.
~
Suzy can cook. She is my salad dressing hero. She is my hero in other ways too.
~
Speaking of heroes, I watched The Incredibles last night. It was cute. But how come the guys get strength and speed as their powers, while the ladies have to be flexible and disappear? If I were a superhero I would want whatever powers Barbarella had. I'm not sure what they even were, but I want those.
~
I love the bunny sprint. I love it almost as much as bunny fu, but nothing will top bunny fu.
~
There's nothing going on in Cyclingnews right now. Well, there's the Commonwealth Games, but I am just not getting into that so much this time around. I keep checking out the track pics to see if there is something hunky there to share with Heather, but so far no luck. I did see that Sarah Ulmer and Lynn Bessette had to pull out of competition so thats a bummer for them.

The news, when there's no racing, is so not news. Its usually euro-melodrama. You know, so and so may not race because he has a digestive ailment. Or so and so said this and that about their team manager. Or so and so are going to race this and that. Or the worst offender of the non news news: so and so's training plan is on target. Oh. wow. Thanks for that update. Now where's the pics of the trackbeef?
~
It looks like oV has found a cool job. Considering all he did to pick up and move here, that makes me happy. He's going to be a hippy soon. Don't know if that makes me all that happy. I guess its okay, as long as he keeps shaving his legs.
~
I wonder if I can find any pics to save this lame rambling post?

Sun manifester

I'm going to buy this today. Because, with my luck, as soon as I finally give in and throw down cash to buy a big ol umbrella, it will stop raining.

You can thank me later.

Did someone spike my decaf?

What the....?

Okay.

Just another day on the team I guess.

Okay...I am outta here. Up this weekend is the Landmine Crit and Somemorea road race.
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Gimme some gawddamn Coffee NOW

I switched today.

I'm on my 5th cup of decaf. I don't normally drink five cups of coffee at work, but I guess I am trying to satiate something that just ain't getting satiated? The last time I quit I went through a detox of sorts. I landed quite unexpectedly (and quite unrleated to coffee) in the hospital and since I had other things on my mind, I forgot all about my caffeine addiction.....That is until the headache from hell that hit me on day 2 or 3.

I woke up with a migraine to end all migraines. I pushed that little nurse call button so hard I thought I was going to break it. Staff ran in with cardio equipment (or something) because I scared them. The NP asked me what was wrong. "The pain...the pain..." I muttered.

They gave me a vicodin. For my caffeine headache.
and one more the next day.

And then I was detoxed.

And I stayed that way until I am not sure when. But sometime between then and now, I got addicted again.

I decided the other night to break the habit.

At least during the week.

Thank god tomorrow's Saturday.

More Glamour Shots by Deb

Dayamm. Jen Tilley is hot. Work it girl.



Nicole is funny. I almost wish I was a fast racer type so I could hang out with her at host housing across the country and laugh and stuff.

Kele is funny too. That krinkly tongue thing is freaking me out.

Cuter than puppies and butterflies!

NSync stopped by to visit

Kisses and smooches to Chad at G/A Communications and the Safeway/GA Communications Cycling Team. Extra schmoopy smooches to Pasco because he likes them so much.

The Ides of March

27 MPH on the first leg of an out and back?
Weeeeeeeeeeee

Turn around and head back to the office?
Help meeeeeeee

Nooooooooo

Deductive Seasoning

I am supposed to drink more water.

Chocolate makes me thirsty.

Therefore I should eat more chocolate.

Nerdy Cool

I swear...I need to bring my camera into work so I can snap a photo of the IT guys going to lunch. Sometimes they all go together and they hop into one dude's big white 4 door sedan. And when that happens, I can't help but hear "Sabotage" playing in the background.

Even the techie geeks are cool at Fox Racing.

Birmp..bi...bi...birmp...bi...bi...birmp..a..birmp.

Kissy Kissy

These are going to be the death of me. Damn little demons are like crack. Gimme more.

Why I like Zabel

Reason #3

How They Roll

Some quick cycling Rock Star action from the weekend....

Mario was spotted at TA (not with a &)..The man is just all style, no matter what the weather. Smooooth. I'm just hoping thats fake fur or else oV might get kicked out of the commune just for reading this.

Floyd is just killing me with his Inland Empire, Kid Rock, style. If they ever make a movie about him, I hope Steve Zahn gets the lead.

Lance socks + Sheryl = Livewrong

There are some things that are just wrong...like Lance socks. Good is good and bad is bad and in Sheryl Crow's words those Lance socks gotta be the nerdiest she's ever had. I think I know why they broke up. Rock and roll + Lance socks do not equal forever. Its too late for me I signed the contract without the deal breaker clause. Girls don't forget to write in your deal breakers. He does have a cute little bum though.

Wild woman

I have decided, that although I can splash and play in cold wet, slippery sloppery, mud, I am far too delicate to race in this drizzle.

I was looking forward to the Monterey Circuit race too. But, those are my ol stompin chompin grounds and I know how epic it can be out there when the rain dampens your spirits and the wind howls through your bones. It makes riding on those chip sealed roads an exercise of wills. And I am just far too delicate for that.

I think I'll clean out the fridge instead.

Snow Day

Okay...first a warning. Those of you who live in snowy cold parts of the world will probably laugh at this. But for us sea level coastal California wussies, snow is an oddity. Its something we travel a few hours to go visit and pay to play in. Its not something that drizzles down and invades our lives. All cold like.

And in all the years I have lived here (about 30) I've never seen this. So pardon me when I get all weird about it right now.

So, after a spooky night of thunder that was apparently striking Aptos, but it seemed like it was in my backyard, we woke up to this:

oooh. Cool.
That shit is cold and crunchy.

The gnomes were happy

We decided to drive over to the beach to see if it actually snowed there as well. And it did. Sort of. The snow was more like compacted giant hail. But it looked very winter wonderlandish. On the way back from the beach, we saw some surfers riding bikes, with their boards on the side, and snow in the background. Surreal. (no picture of that because we are too slow, but here is a pic of the snowhail on the beach)

Michael tried to rescue this funky bug thing from the snow. The phone number is the PG&E outtage info hotline. They told us our power would be back sometime between 2-4pm...I was hoping they meant today. (Since I am typing this, you can assume all is well, but I have no idea how the bug fared)

We had planned on doing chores today...but without power what are you gonna do? We did the only thing you can do. We loaded the mountain bikes and went for a slushilicious ride in the snow at Demo. The only real snow we saw was near the top of Santa Rosalia. It was more like a mudilicious ride. It was crispycold, muddy, slippery, treacherous Fun. With a capital F.

(No picture of the ride...you have to paint one with your imagination)

When we returned, the power had been restored and all the snow had melted. Its as if Snow Day never really happened at all.

Diversions

This pic from Tirreno-Adriatico sort of reminds me of the Cat 3 race last weekend at McClane.

Sad though....because the crash took out race leader Paolo Bettini who was on fire with his cagey spunky sprinting form. No one ever wants to see the race leader writhing on the ground like this. Ouchie.

And, has anyone noticed that Prettyboy Floyd is leading Paris Nice? Whats up with the backwards ballcap thing on the podium?