Sasquatch

Aaack. I just noticed.

Good thing its tights and leg warmer weather.

~~~

And on a total wandering sidenote....while doing my google image search I got sidetracked by all the bigfoot websites out there. Some doozies. So if you too are at work putting off, work, ...here's some timekilling fun with Sasquatch:

Bigfoot Field Researchers Org - or bFRO, cause apparently Sasquatch has a bigFro. There is a sightings database. Bigfoot isn't just for the northwest anymore. There are even sightings in Delaware. Sadly though, there are no sightings in Hawaii. And for only $300, you can go and camp in the woods for a couple of moonless nights with a few other Sasquatch fans. Oh my...if that isn't fun in a bucket I don't know what is.

Sasquatch Information Society - Another official research site with a sightings database. Except this site has a sighting in Washington DC. Washington DC? I am cracking myself up picturing Sasquatch touching his big hairy finger to names on the Vietnam Memorial. I know, thats not funny. Then why can't I stop laughing?

Crypto-Bipedal-Primatology - Uhhh... huh?

Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs - "The Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs' mission is to enhance the quality of life, promote economic and ecological opportunity, and to carry out the responsibility to protect and improve the trust assets of Sasquatch, Sasquatch culture and Cascadian native hominoids. This site features "Howl" the blog for Sasquatches and a feature on Sasquatch Arts & Crafts: An Exploration In Moss. Sasquatch silliness.

Sasquatch's My Space - More silliness. This time sponsored by beef jerky.

I am one of those stone cold fact people. Prove it. Otherwise I don't believe it. But, the image of a Sasquatch, sitting in the redwoods, making moss bowls and listening to John Fogerty...thats so sweet. I bet he mountain bikes.

Eeek...better get back to work.

Kill two birds

Nesting.
They have a name for it and I got it.

I should be out riding. I should spend my lunches seeing how many miles I can get in, in only 60 minutes. I should be charging my lights and hooking up with the hillbillies for some nightriding mayhem, followed by beer drinking bonding.

I should be seeing how fast I can go down a descent I can't see. I should be showing up at the Specialized ride and taking pulls on the flats. I should be coming home cold and exhausted.

But instead, I want nothing more than to come home and
build a bookcase.

Or shop for just the right length curtain rod. Or that perfect lamp.

I want to put snugglie blankets on the couch and firewood in the stove and light sandalwood scented candles.

I want to clean the oven and organize the pantry.

I dont know if its the cold weather, or that I found true love, or that hormones are trying one last gasp....

but I sure wish it would stop.

Do not go gentle

My father died when I was 18. He and my mom were still married at the time, and my mom had spent the prior 5 years taking care of him as the inevitable approached. I know she felt a deep love for my father, but they were the kind of couple that shared a strong passion, but did not otherwise have much in common.

4 years after his death, she met Theo. He loves to do all the things she loves to do. So they spent all of their retirement years dancing, partying, hiking, traveling, going to the opera and then some more partying. Its been wonderful to see my mom so happy...enjoying her favorite things with her favorite person.

This year, though...something changed in Theo. He's no longer able to do the NY Times crossword puzzle each morning and he doesn't have the interest he used to have in egyptian history and quantum physics. He also began throwing out crazy numbers for common things such as weights and temperatures...

Several months ago she received the diagnosis for his confusion...Alzheimers.

Theo is a spunky little fighter and I'm certain he will astound all with how long he will conquer...but my mom has been through this, and she understands all too well the inevitability of the inevitable.

and the loss of a partner.

Yesterday she told me of her plans to go to Europe this summer with Theo. They will be gone for about 6 weeks. And they are both cashing in their nest eggs to do it with. A sort of no holds barred...party for the two of them to enjoy.

She had a wry delightful smile on her face when she said it. Only a slight nod of the head, and a knowing look at me, gave hint to her underlying fear. She made certain that Theo only saw the delight.

Then she asked when Michael and I were getting married so that she could schedule her trip around our wedding.

No Mom. You tell me when you want to go. We'll do the rescheduling.

And we'll enjoy every precious moment of our time together, in your honor.

My two thanksgivings

each one offering that which I am most thankful for...




wine and pastries.

Real quick..before he gets home

I came home a little early to make him a chocolate cake. Chocolate because its my...his favorite.

For me, this is more adventurous than any mountain bike ride.
and scarier.

Of course, I am not making it from scratch. I'm using Duncan Hines Extra Moist Chocolate. And, to make up for my non-scratchedness, I just poured tons of liquor into the batter. I couldn't figure out which would taste batter: rum, Grand Marnier, or Bonny Doon Framboise. So I dumped all three in there. Yum.

They really need to write the instructions on those cake boxes in a little more detail too. And some pictures too. Not pictures of an egg, because I know what an egg is, but pictures of what the thing should look like when you pour it into a pan. Because somehow, I was supposed to have enough for two 8 inch pans and I only had enough for one.

Either I poured waaaay too much in that one pan (how much does really liquored up chocolate cake rise anyway? They should tell us this on the box) or I tasted just a wee bit more than I thought I did.

And how do I know when its done? Something about a toothpick. I better go check.

Wish I had time to do more

Our silly life.

Laughing, exercising, suffering, drinking, schmooping, complaining, wondering, dreaming, typing, imagining, watching, savoring, dancing, creating,

playing.

And recognizing how lucky we are.




To the reason I smile every morning when I wake up,

Happy Birthday.

While he preps the bikes

More fun with elephant seals

We took the long way here

Still at work

Taking a vacation day is stressful...


When I get off work, I want to drive by Target and see if these guys are still there.
They're waiting in line for Playstation 3 which is coming out tomorrow. No tents allowed here. Just guys with big jackets in camping chairs. Brrrrrr. But it looks like they have wireless or something, so thats nice.

I guess Target doesn't let their line set up tents. But Best Buy does. I saw these guys at the Gilroy Best Buy yesterday. The guys (these are all guys by the way. I didn't see any girls involved with this foolishness) in the front of the line said they had been there since Tuesday.

Camping, in front of a Best Buy since Tuesday.
For a Playstation 3.

wow.

Maybe food will help

hint #3

This one will confuse him

hint #2

I'm such a tease

hint #1

This about sums it up

I did this too today. In my car.

I was rushing back home to get our copy of the insurance paperwork, when Michael called to tell me it was no use and we had to cancel.

I was somewhere on a farmroad in Corralitos and I just let loose and bawled. I hardly ever get emotional like that, but when the floodgates finally open...well all sorts of shit that should have been let loose over the years comes pouring out too.

And then after that I was basically useless. I stood by and watched others take down the course we worked so hard to put up. I stood by and watched others tell disappointed racers that the event was cancelled. Thank goodness I have so many people around me who can function when the shit hits the fan, because I sure didn't have the stomach for it.

I really wanted to crawl into a hole and put my hands over my ears and scrunch my eyes closed and hum.

But the Surf City crew has balls. And they stood in the street and looked people in the eye and told them "sorry".

And so, it is to all of them, that I say "sorry". If there is anyone I do not want to disappoint it is all of them.

I asked Jeff Clark if Surf City had ever been cancelled. He told me it had not. Great, a 30 year run and I have that dubious distinction. Then Jeff corrected himself by saying that they did have to cancel once....after the Loma Prieta earthquake. Oh. Well, that makes me feel better. Just me and one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit this area.

Thank you to Brent and Jen for the therapuetic ride we did this afternoon. Brent's charm, Jen's quiet optimism, Laura's antics, Michael's patient love, and trails as happy as they come, worked their magic. I don't feel like crying anymore. I feel just a little more like this:



Thanks to Don and Wendy for taking the pics of his daughter Abby crying after being told there was no Surf City. They made me giggle. And thanks too for all of the supportive emails. You guys are all great.

My vicarious bike ride

Michael had the day off today.
I did not.

He got to go on a long bike ride.
I did not.

But he's so sweet. He took me with him. Sort of.

Every now and then, he would send me a pic from his camera phone. And with each picture that popped into my inbox, I got to take a moment away from the spreadsheet and pretend I was out on a long bike ride instead. Except, with little text to accompany the pic, I had to make up my own story of our bike ride.

~~~~~~~
I got up very very very early this morning to get an early start on our ride. Michael was still in bed, so I got dressed and went for a quick little invigorating 40 mile pre dawn ride along the ocean.

With that great warm up, I came home an hour later to wake Michael up.


We headed out, and all was well. Except that Michael almost crashed trying to unzip his vest while taking a picture of himself. But it was okay, because I caught him.


We took a break at some reservoir somewhere (where the hell is this honey?) and we think we saw the Loch Ness monster.


We got lost somewhere in the town of Scotts Felton and had to stop for directions. Thats when we saw signs of HIM. The Trek dude with the lawn mower thingie on his bike. That was most certainly his bike. But where was he??


Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted him. "Hurry Michael! Hurry!!!" I shouted. "The Trek dude with the lawn mower thingie on his bike is leaving!!"


We hopped on our bikes and gave chase. We rode up Zayante, passing cars when we could. And we were gaining. Until the descent.


Trek dude with the lawn mower thingie on his bike had mad descending skills and he dropped us.


We carried on, until we got to the top of some mountain somewhere (honey, where is that?)


Michael was getting tired. It had been a long day for him and I felt a little guilty as I had been setting a fast pace. I even tried to get him to duck into a fun singletrack section, but, grumpy with fatigue, he was having none of it.


I set a path for home. And we made it down the mountain just as the sun was setting. It was lovely, so we stopped and smooched. And smooched some more. And....

...oops.

Ahem.
The End.

Banana break post

I'm titling this one the way I am because that way, if anyone from my work ever read this, they'd say, "well at least she posted that while she was on her banana break".

I had a lovely lunch ride today and I have Queen Ann to thank for it. This morning, the day was wet and gloomy and I knew it would take heaps of motivation to get me out in such weather. I told Ann to give me a wake up call when it was time to head out at lunch. She did and I groaned, but I got my lazy butt up and out of the chair and to Sputnik to change.

Sputnik. I have Sputnik because Michael is getting long overdue work done on the toaster. And how do I thank him for doing something so considerate? By driving the hell out of that little minivan (Hecker Pass...weeeeee!) and getting it all messy. Within 6 hours I have managed to get Sputnik to look as bad as my car. Thats all my junkmail splattered in the back. How in the hell I ever got on Swiss Colony's mailing list, I'll never know. As if....

So anyway, I head over to Sputnik to change. You know what the best thing about gloomy cold days are? I get to wear my Sheila Moon snugglie wugglie top. You know what the worst thing about getting ready to ride on a gloomy cold day is? Having to take off my Sheila Moon snugglie wugglie top for cold cycling clothes. I sat in the car, for a few moments contemplating why on earth I would want to take off my snuggliewugglie just to get all cold and dripply. But Queen Ann was waiting, so I did it.

Ann and I headed out into the bluster, our pockets stuffed with lots of just in case rain gear. You know what that means right? The more prepared you are for bad weather, the more likely it will clear up and be 70 degrees. And sure enough, within about 5 minutes the clouds disappeared and the sweet sun emerged.

I wasn't complaining.

After a bit of peddling, we came to Anderson Reservoir. This is where Ann and I would part. She was off to do two minute intervals and I was off to do anything but two minute intervals. And so, with our pockets overflowin with rain gear, we parted ways.

I headed out towards the Coyote Creek trail. If ever you want a bike path all to yourself, this is the one. I hardly ever ever see anyone on this path. Its a perfect place to do intervals because you won't be bothering anyone but the bobcats and squirrels. Of course, the only intervals I would be doing would be camera phonervals. (which aren't as easy as they sound actually).

And how come no one ever told me about my geeky helmet straps? Hello?

After a few pedalings and a few photos, it was time to turn around and catch the tailwind home. Ahh...tailwinds. Bliss. Moving without really pedalin. Sort of defeats the whole training thing...but man...thats bliss.

I came back to my car all smiles and spunk. Ann was back at the same time. She was not all smiles and spunk. She looked nauseous actually. Said she did two more than last time and now feels really ill but that maybe thats how she's supposed to feel. Two more of what, I have no idea. Don't want to know. Not right now anyway.

k, banana's done.

These yams are making me sweat

I love the comfort food season.
Its almost time for pantry soup.

Train drain

Damn Surf City.

If you're not spending actual time doing something for the series, you are thinking about it.

And all that thinking is draining. I long for quiet time (that isn't spent sleeping). And training is out of the question.

I finally had the luxury of a longish lunch to go ride today. And weather to compliment it just nicely. I figured I could get in one of the long loops and make a nice 90 minute ride out of it.

So I set off to the backroads of Morgan Hill where the wind was calmer, the reservoir was twinkly, and the lighting was crisp and splendid.

And I pedaled along at a nice little clip that got slower and slower as the scenery got nicer and nicer. Until I finally just stopped at a cute outlook.

And I stayed there and took in the sights, the sounds (or lack thereof) and the sun.

And I stayed there for a luxurious while.

Until it was too late to do the long loop.

And I headed back after only 45 minutes of riding, but with a contented smile and a sweet tailwind to carry me back.

taqueria should be #1

Watsonville. Its the new Bend.

I'm a happy girl. Because some of my favorite people have decided not to move to Bend. They've decided to move to Watsonville instead.

Yay.

Because I ain't moving to Bend. It doesn't make the cut. Bend loses on #9 and a little bit of #13

Michael and I sometimes talk about our criteria for a place to live, in case wanderlust overcomes us and we want to see other places. So far its come to this.


1. No cities. Neither one of us like people all that much. At least not that many people all stuffed into one smelly place. Being around too many people gives me panic attacks. I fainted at a crowded kegger party once (and not because I was overly drunk) and my mom fainted at a crowded Julio Iglesias concert once (and not because she was overly smitten). Anyway, no cities.

2. No backwoods. As much as I don't like cities, I also don't like ultra boonies. I need a Trader Joe's and a place to go Salsa dancing, and a movie theatre that shows indie films.

3. No suburbs. Their homogoneity scares me. On a very deep level.

4. No states/counties with retarded liquor laws that have you driving all over the place in search of the "state" liquor store. No goofy blue laws either.

5. No states with existing or pending anti abortion laws or severe family planning restrictions. Not that I plan on using these things but I want no part of such a backwards state. (no on 85)

6. And I probably won't be a happy camper at anything within the bible belt. No offense to those bible beltians that don't force schools to teach dogma in science class. (Parenthetical confession - I honestly have no idea where the bible belt actually is)

7. No states where the highest elevation is a freeway overpass. I can't stand looking off into the distance and not seeing hills on the horizon. How do you Floridians even orient yourselves?

8. Speaking of Florida, no areas that have bugs so big and nasty that you have to screen in your backyard. Screened in backyards...kid you not, people live with this.

9. No daytime temps below 40

10. No temps above 100

11. More than average number of sunny days. I am a fair weather rider through and through.

12. Proximity to an ocean. Even though I never do ocean things, its always nice to know its there. On second thought, I might be able to forgo this.

12. Proximity to taquerias. Unlike the ocean, this is an essential in my life. Besides liking, no..needing, the food, the lack of good taquerias says a lot about a place. And Baja Freshy places, which will do in a pinch, does not count. I want to see birria or lengua on the menu (although I never order either) and soccer on the tv in the corner.

13. Diversity. Nothing against white people, some of my best friends are white...

14. Access to good mountain biking. Duh.

15. Access to good, and relatively safe, road riding where people are less likely to throw Coors cans at you.



16. Not so expensive that we can't afford to do anything. And I suppose I'll need a job that I don't hate.

Watsonville is far from perfect. The drive to Santa Cruz sucks like a million times, and there's always farm mud on the roads and the smell of manure in the air. And the redwoods, for all their tree hugging grandeur, are actually kind of annoying. But as more of my friends move here, its looking pretty darned good.

For now.

When I come up for air

I just realized that I need to do a Men of Cross blog. Its been a while since we've gathered around and done a little gratutious and completely superficial spandex watching....

we're overdue.

I think I'll spend this weekend doing some research.

for the sake of the blog and all.

I start to sweat when your legs are on me

We were supposed to go to the mountains this weekend. To see the seasons change, maybe get in a last run of Hole in the Ground. And we were going to go even if it was raining.

But we are such fickle wussies, because now that its raining, we're not so sure about that.

Then I thought maybe we would head south and out of the brunt of the rain. I started checking out Big Sur because Michael has never been there. But I have a hard time with paying over $200 a night to be "nestled in the redwoods" when I can get all the redwood nestling I want here, for free. And I could get the laundry done.

And before we knew it, our romantic weekend away had turned into a weekend at home doing laundry, putting away halloween costumes, and cleaning our cars.

We'll see if we actually get to the car cleaning part.