Spasms of the Right Brain

Times They Are A-Changing

2010-03-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

As Egan begins his 10th month, the Boals/Krasnow household is undergoing some changes. Waist-high objects have become Egan's Disneyland. Dive into mom's knitting bag to tangle myself in the yarn? Absolutely. Hang from the kitchen table? No problem! Need a magazine off the couch? Got it! Attempt to hoist myself out of the pack-n-plan by throwing a leg over the side? Don't mind if I do.

Playing games with Morgan remains his favorite past time and she's able to always find just the thing to make him squeal in delight.

Egan loves to move and explore and is extremely curious and fearless. At any given moment, he can be found kissing himself in the mirror, chasing the dog around the house, or playing hide-and-go-seek with one of us, wrapped in a sleeping bag. While out buying chocolates on Valentine's Day, Egan discovered a helium balloon in the shop and was fascinated by it. We bought one and he spent much of the afternoon exploring its mysterious behaviors.

We've found that showers are even more fun then baths. Egan will crawl right into the shower with one of us, so now morning showers have become routine before I head off to work. He'll sit on the ground, splashing around in the water run-off and filling his bath toys with the warm water. He loves to curl around our chest like a koala bear while we take him under the stream of shower water and isn't phased at all by the water raining down on him. Tangling himself in the big towels after his shower isn't so bad either!

At the moment, he's definitely most interested in activities which involve movement. He won't sit still for long with a single toy, but he loves banging things together, and learning how to make different types of objects move.

And for those of you wondering about teeth...he has 6! The two bottom ones have been joined by 4 on the top and yes, he definitely knows how to use them.

This spring, we've been spending a lot of time working in our garden. Inspired by the film Food Inc., we have tried to change our eating habits to consume as much organic, locally produced food as possible. In addition to the raised beds which we have behind our garage, we converted about 1/3 of our back yard into vegetable garden plots. The yard is currently covered in cardboard and newspaper to kill off the grass and weeds, and will soon be turned into mulch and ready for a summer planting. Additionally, we planted 3 fruit trees to mark Egan's first year and Morgan's teen years. This fig tree (bare root, between Egan and me) is for Egan, and on the other side of our yard is a persimmon tree for Morgan and an apple tree. Additionally, we purchased a chest-freezer for our garage and purchased half a pig and entire steer from a local, Marin farm which we are sharing with a group of friends.

When not growing our own food and brewing our own beer, we still love our great local bars, and so does Egan.
French fries are a welcome treat and Egan can hang at a bar as long as the fries are good for mushing on the table.

We're all pretty convinced that Egan has said his first "word." His inspiration to crawl was to chase the dog around the house, and it has also been his inspiration to climb. From this photo, it's only a matter of seconds before Egan climbs onto Clover's back, and that never seems to have a graceful ending. And this love for Clover has inspired a word of sorts. Whenever Egan sees Clover, or a dog on the street, or a dog in a book, he starts panting, just like she does. We like to insert the 'woof-woof' after the panting, but Egan like's his dog sounds just so.

It's hard to believe that Egan's first birthday is coming in less then 2 months. The days at my school seem to tick away endlessly sometimes (spring with 8th graders definitely isn't my favorite time of year), and yet, those same days simultaneously move so incredibly fast in Egan's life. It's funny how that works.

Man on the Run

2010-01-14T20:17:00.000-08:00

The Little Man is mobile! After 8 months of stationary viewing, Egan is officially on the move. He'll happily show off his crawling technique to anyone who waves a crisp newspaper or a box of cheerios in front of him. Although he prefers the commando crawl for its stealth and speed, he'll get up on his hands and knees for the right price, namely some large object that he can lift up and dump out on his head. But his favorite place to crawl is right into Clover's warm embrace.

Those of you who know Clover, our Bernese Mountain dog, may not believe that she is quite gentile and mellow with Egan (she's a huge spaz when guests come over), but she takes his 'abuse' in stride. When she gets tired of him grabbing handfuls of her hair or poking her in the eye, she calmly gets up and moves to the other side of the room. You can guess where Egan goes next.

Over the holidays, Egan had his first sleepover with Granny Lu and Grandpa Ry. They stayed with him while Mike and I went to Half Moon Bay (alone) for the night. Egan took it all in stride, never crying, and after sorting out who's who with a few hard stares at Granny Lu when he woke up in the morning, he decided that all was well. Meanwhile, Mike and I did some fabulous mountain biking, ate too many desserts, and saw elephant seals and sea otters on the beach across the road from our hotel. Morgan spent Christmas with her mom this year, but when she returned to our house, we traveled south to San Diego for a visit with Grandma Jo, Aunt Jenny, and cousins Wyatt and Troy. We had plenty of laughs and Egan jealously watched his sister and cousins playing laser tag, thinking that it looked like a pretty cool place to show off his commando crawl.

Mike has rekindled an old love for beer brewing and Egan has tagged along for several batches. Under Egan's watchful eye, he's made a Trappist Ale, an Amber, and a Stout. In a matter of days they'll be bottling the next batch: an IPA. We plan to have a Paris-Roubaix party in April with more than enough of Mike's beer to go around, so mark the date on your calendars.

Our first trip with Egan on the bike had to be aborted when we tried on his helmet and found it to be quite big. We've since found an infant helmet and we'll be taking him out on the bike any day now. How to cart the 30 pound trailer and the 20 pound boy up the steep east bay hills is an enigma we still haven't solved, but by our next blog post we'll be filled with stories, I'm sure. In the meantime, we'll leave you with one final video, uncut, unedited, just raw crawling footage.

It's gonna be a Green Christmas...

2009-12-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

Would you believe me if I told you that Egan really loves kale? This boy can eat! Each new food that Egan eats allows us a chance to see what tremendous expressions he'll come up with.

Actually, kale has become a regular part of his afternoon meal, and he no longer needs it mixed with yogurt in order to enjoy it. In fact, he likes it a lot more than his big sister does! Egan now eats two meals of solid food a day and all 3 of us, Morgan, Mike and I love feeding him as his expressions continue to be priceless. For breakfast, he eats a combination of brown rice and millet with yogurt and fruit and for his afternoon meal he eats a meat with two veggies. Not to be outdone by his sister, he tried tri-tip for the first time earlier this week and it was a hit. Now if we could just figure out how to get him clean once he no longer fits in the washing machine:

I missed the 6 month post, so this post marks Egan's 7 month birthday. A lot has happened in the past two months. Egan got to meet his Grandpa Fred (Mike's dad) who came out from Texas and had great fun entertaining him. We learned that Grandpa Fred has a knack for getting Egan to fall asleep and we loved watching him sooth Egan to sleep on his shoulder. Grandpa Fred also loves to bake bread and he experimented with using the leftover barley from beer Mike had brewed to make barley bread.

We have also had two visits from the Krasnow clan over these past two months. In October, my parents, brother, and sister-in-law came out to celebrate my mom's 65th birthday. We rented a house in Healdsburg which was quite idyllic. The house was on a vineyard, with grape vines, pear and olive trees, and incredible sunrises all outside our yard. We were all in heaven, especially Mike and I who took early morning bike rides up steep hills while the rest of the family vied for Egan's attention. After watching Austin Powers, Morgan was eager to watch the original James Bond movies so we spent each evening curled up on the couch together laughing at the 1960s stagecraft. For my mom's birthday celebration, we hired a chef to cook for us at the house. So, after putting Egan to bed, we had an amazing meal, beginning out on the deck overlooking the vineyards, and ending with incredible dessert wine and chocolate souffle. What a treat!

And there's even one more family visit to share (yes, it has been a busy two months)! Morgan invited my grandmother, Granny, out to her school for grandparents day. Granny (Eleanor after whom Little E is named) graduated from Mills College in 1936. Morgan's new middle school is located on the Mills campus and Morgan invited Granny so that she could come see how Mills has changed and to speak to her classmates about what Mills was like in the 1930s. Granny got to speak to the entire 6th grade class about her time at Mills and attended school with Morgan for grandparents day the following day. It was an incredibly special event for us all and something we will always cherish.

When not hanging out with Boals and Krasnow families, Egan loves playing with his friends. He's fascinated by older kids (you know, those grown-up 9-month-olds), and although he still can't crawl, he has recently realized that other babies can. He intently watches older babies, trying to imitate them. Actually, Egan intently watches most everything and we love how curious he is. His temperament remains extremely mellow and he has become a fascinated observer whenever he hears a new sound or discovers a new toy to play with. Recently, he has discovered that he can move himself from one place to another. Although he can't yet crawl, he can rotate himself 180 degrees, scoot backwards on the floor, and lean over in any direction while sitting up to grab a toy and then steady himself again while sitting.

And, as of one week ago, he has a tooth! Morgan, Mike and I bet on whether or not he'd have a tooth before we left for Chicago for Thanksgiving. Morgan was the only one who thought he would. Egan, never missing an opportunity to please his sister, sprouted his first tooth just in time and Morgan discovered it while we waited in the Oakland airport for our flight.As the holidays approach, Morgan is eager to celebrate Egan's first Christmas and Hanukkah with him. Egan will be attending many holiday parties and eagerly awaits his New Years trip to San Diego to visit with his Grandma Jo, Aunt Jenny, and cousins Wyatt and Troy.

Happy Holidays!

Goat Milk Yogurt Facial

2009-10-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today's post marks Egan's 5 month birthday and his introduction to solid food. If you're up for the minutia of this past month, keep reading, because I feel like I can go on and on about how our little man has grown up this month.

This month has brought a lot of firsts.

First time going running with mom:

First wedding:

First wedding reception and getting passed around the dinner table:

And, before divulging Egan's first foods, I must divulge his best kept secret: his uncontrollable giggles. Normally, these giggles come only for Morgan, Egan's big sissy, but every once in a while, he'll let loose for mom or dad.

The big day came about a week ago when Egan got to eat sweet potatoes as his first solid food. Although serving rice cereal seems to be customary, our pediatrician recommended starting with vegetables and fruits as they provide more nutrients and can be mixed with yogurt to give a protein source. Why now? Well...after a few weeks of very restless sleeping (on Egan's part), where he went from sleeping 6-8 hours without eating to only 2-3 hours, we decided that his increased night-time hunger could possibly be met by additional meals during the day. He was 5 months old, right in the middle of the 4-6 month range which all doctors seem to recommend.

Egan has been eating solid food for a week and a half and has already had sweet potatoes, avocado, bananas, goat milk yogurt, poached apples, and poached pears. Again, we seem to have swayed from the conventional wisdom of serving 1 food for several days to check for allergies before introducing a new food. Neither Mike nor I have any allergies and I guess we're eager to turn Egan into a foodie, just like Morgan and us.

We're making all of our own food and have high hopes of growing much of it ourselves as we're planting fruit trees this fall and nearly doubling the size of our current vegetable plots. We also wash our own diapers which I think firmly upends us from our Midwestern roots and establishes us as true Berkeley parents.

Egan is now an avid roller-overer, easily turning from his back to his belly. Unfortunately, he then gets stuck on his belly and after 2-3 minutes, hates it as he can't figure out how to get back into his back. Mastering a few yoga poses on his belly, like cobra, has been fun to watch, but once he pushes himself up onto his hands, he's not sure where to go from there and that trick usually ends with him smashing his face back onto the rug and crying out for someone to flip him over. Although crawling still feels a ways away, we're excited for him to be a bit more mobile as it will allow him more independence in getting to the things he wants. What he really wants is Clover, our dog, and he flails his arms in front of him so we'll pick him up and let him 'chase' Clover around the house. This game usually ends with Egan getting a fistful of Clover's fur, but every one in a while, he times his reach just right and grabs at Clover's outstretched tongue. Now that's a sight to see!

In addition to this wickedly exciting life with mom, dad and sissy, Egan loves to hang out with his buddies, all of whom he has been biking with since I was 3 months pregnant. They're preparing themselves for the catwalk which we're sure they'll be ready for in another month or two:

This weekend, my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, are coming out to celebrate my mom's birthday. Hopefully, between now and Friday, we can teach him to sing happy birthday, but for now, it's just babbles without any regular consonant sounds.

Real Men Wear Speedos

2009-09-09T20:21:00.001-07:00

Although Egan officially turned 4 months 3 days ago, it seems fitting that the math teacher who authors these posts is writing on 09/09/09. What a cool date!

Over the last month, it feels like Egan has grown up a lot. Our Little Buddah is definitely developing into a curious guy and it has been so much fun. When we last spoke (at 3 months old), Egan would occasionally grab onto a toy, if you dangled it in front of him for long enough and made enough goofy noises to make it seem really attractive. Now, he'll gingerly grab at anything you put near him and will look all over the room if you move something which he was just holding onto to see if he can find where it ended up. He reaches out for objects with one hand, and steadies them into his grasp with the other. Ultimately, everything ends up in his mouth, where all tenderness ends and he has rightfully earned his new nickname of 'Piranha Boy." Morgan got an early lesson in hickies this evening as Egan demonstrated step-by-step how one is crafted on mom's arm.

About 2 weeks ago, Egan discovered his feet. While he was napping (or so we thought), Mike walked into his room to grab the laundry hamper. He discovered that Egan was awake, holding his feet, and rocking side to side in his crib. Soon thereafter, he learned how to roll from his back to his front which of course delighted his parents and sister.

For those of you who haven't seen the original rolling video, here he is about a month ago when he first rolled from his front to his back. Believe it or not, this feat has yet to be repeated, as it seems it was just a fluke, where he happened to get enough fabric in his crib from the rug to pull him over.

School started up for me and Morgan two weeks ago and it feels like we've settled into a really nice routine. I am teaching only 40% this year which comes out to 3 days a week from about 10:30-3:00. Having the mornings home with Egan is so fun as it's when he's most playful and silly. Mike is able to get out and ride in the mornings and soon, we'll be able to ride together as Egan is almost big enough to ride in the bike trailer (well, it's more that he has almost lost his bobble head and can handle the road bumps). Mike is caring for Egan while I am at school and I think they spend the entire day cracking each other up as I seem to regularly come home to two giggling boys. Today Mike put Egan on the phone while I was at work and he smiled and smiled while looking around to figure out where mom's voice was coming from. Too funny. I'm riding or running most afternoons after work and am looking forward to starting to bring Egan along. Maybe that will be the big news of next month's post...

Hump Day and Egan at 3 months!

2009-08-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hump day came on a Tuesday, just two weeks ago, when Mike came home from the hospital after his pituitary tumor was removed. We're officially over the hump and so thrilled to have the rest of the summer for time with our family.

Egan continues to be a very mellow baby. We're pretty convinced that he knows that with all of Mike's health hurdles this year, we really needed to catch a break somewhere. In the last month he has come to life, smiling a ton (he loves to do it at 4am when he hears me come into his room to feed him which is both a blessing and curse as it's becoming harder to get him back to sleep at that hour), laughing, and babbling. Although he has found his voice, he forgets how to use it just as quickly and cracks us up as he has all the right facial expressions for a hysterical laugh, but nothing comes out. He is enraptured by having stories read to him, especially by Mike, and equally enraptured when Morgan sticks his feet in his mouth. He still has no idea how to get them there on his own, so he is always memorized when she does it for him and then bursts out laughing at her.

Not surprisingly, Morgan is the most wonderful big sister to Egan. She is both incredibly nurturing and quite meticulous in her care of him. Egan lights up when he hears her voice as she comes into the room and she has ways of making him smile and laugh that only work for her.

In July, I went to Evanston so that Egan could meet his two great grandmothers. Here he's surrounded by 3 generations of family: his mama, his grandparents, Grandpa Ry and Granny Lu, and his great-grandmothers, Granny and Grandma Lil. One of the greatest joys of parenthood so far was watching each of them, both in their mid 90s, spring to life when he was around, enraptured by his smiles and his joyful utterances. Watching how Egan makes so many people around him so happy has been an unexpected surprise, but one which I cherish.

He and I continue to go to baby yoga and baby massage each week (which, as you can see, he adores so much that he'll do me the favor of sleeping during the second half of class when the mamas get to do yoga without their babes), while also spending time with my mom's groups. Egan already has many suitors to choose from which must be at least partially due to all the slick outfits he has been given by friends and family.

Only a few more months until our bobble-head son is ready to ride in the bike-trailer. And then, watch out Berkeley!

Silver Lining?

2009-07-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

If you had told me back in that first week of March that my crash would have a silver lining I would have been highly skeptical. It was hard to imagine anything good coming from the broken bones, abrasions, aches and pains. Even now as I write this, knowing all I’m about to share, I’m not sure silver is the color I would choose to describe the ‘treasure’ that March 1st cloud concealed.

The first hint that there would be more to this story came in the initial radiology report: patient appears to have an enlarged pituitary gland, follow up testing should be pursued to evaluate further (or something like that). I asked my doctor about it and he said it was a common condition which for most people didn’t cause problems and we should focus on the issues at hand. That same week a second CT scan confirmed the enlarged sella but again I was told it was probably nothing to worry about. While I didn’t worry too much I did enough research to be aware of the issues and it remained in the back of my mind.

In May, after I was moderately healed and Egan had arrived, I pursued that ‘follow up testing’. I still wasn’t concerned. I wasn’t feeling any symptoms and expected the tests to show a condition that I might have to watch in the years to come. Unfortunately, my concern took a quantum step up midway through my MRI when the radiologist asked me 'Do you get a lot of headaches?'

Tumor is not a word you ever really want to hear your doctor say. At least until they discover the ‘male sexual enhancement tumor’ or the ‘detachable fat burning tumor’. ‘Benign tumor’ is obviously a better combination of words than ‘malignant tumor or cancer’ but benign tumor inside your head is not a happy combination. So, needless to say, I was less than thrilled when I heard my doctor say I had a Macro Pituitary Adenoma (tumor).

A quick geography/physiology lesson for those of you unfamiliar with the pituitary gland. It resides in your head, almost the geometric center of your head. While it isn’t technically part of your brain this may be one of those cases that can be added to ‘horse shoes’ and ‘hand grenades’ on the list of situations where close counts. Zooming in, the pituitary gland resides at the base of your brain as a protrusion off the hypothalamus. It sits on a small bone called the sella, just below the optic chiasm and between the left and right carotid arteries. At first glance, not the easiest place to swing a scalpel. The pituitary gland is the link between the nervous system and the endocrine system and is responsible for regulating hormone production, a relatively important task in the functioning of the human body.

As it turns out, pituitary tumors are fairly common. Studies have found that as many as one in five adults have a pituitary tumor. Fortunately, most don’t cause any problems and go unnoticed. The tumors that do get noticed usually cause problems in several ways. They can interfere with hormone production which may or may not be severe enough to warrant treatment. They can put pressure on or displace the optic chiasm, causing vision loss. They can also put pressure on the carotid arteries and possibly cause a rupture and hemorrhaging in your skull (should be avoided if possible).

So, getting back to my situation, my Macro Pituitary Adenoma is about the size of a large cherry tomato. The tumor has displaced my pituitary gland and probably inhibited some hormone production. Luckily, I have not noticed any symptoms. My vision has tested fine. My hormone levels are almost normal and my carotid arteries are still intact. But the tumor has already displaced my optic nerves and is very close to the carotid artery on the left. So, if it hadn’t been for my bike accident I may not have discovered this tumor until it was much more difficult to remove. This early discovery probably warrants the designation ‘silver lining’. However, they still need to go in and get this thing out so at the moment the silver looks a bit tarnished.

Monday morning Dr. K is going to polish it up for me. Sometime around 7 I will undergo transsphenoidal surgery to resect my adenoma. Luckily for me Dr. K performs these surgeries 3 or 4 times a week with very few complications.

Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted.

8 weeks of love

2009-07-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that Egan turned 8 weeks old this week. He's no longer the floppy newborn which he was a few weeks ago. He almost holding his head up which is really fun to see. Many of his friends of the same age can already hold theirs up, but we figure that he will take a bit longer as he's just so much bigger than they are! He's in the 95th percentile in height and weight. At 6 weeks he weighed 12 pounds 15 ounces and was 23.5 inches long. We figure he now weighs about 14 pounds.

The great news about him being a big baby is that he's a great sleeper. We give him a bath each night before bed and he often conks out right there in the bathroom. For the past 2 weeks he has slept 6 or 7 hours straight. Just our luck, he'll start waking up more now that I wrote this, but as far as I can tell, he can't read yet, so I'm hoping he won't catch wind of this post.

Our favorite weekly activity is post-natal yoga. It's really a baby spa, disguised in a yoga studio. We do 'yoga' together for 30 minutes, followed by baby massage. Being in a room with 15 naked babies is really something else. It feels so Berkeley and I love it! For the last hour of class, there are baby holders who whisk your baby away and bounce him to sleep while you do yoga. The whole experience is pure heaven.

Although neither Mike nor I are bike racing right now, we have gone to watch a few races. One of our teammates gave Egan his own Metromint dots to wear and he wears them proudly at each race he attends.

In other news, we have a bassinet which originally belonged to my grandmother (Eleanor, after whom Egan is named). She used it with her 3 children, including my mother, and it was later used for some of the grandchildren of my generation. We had hoped to use it for Egan, but learned that it was painted with lead paint. So, Mike, Morgan and I are restoring it for this generation of great grandchildren. We repainted it and are now working on sewing a cover for it. Morgan plans to embroider the cover and we're making a photo album of the restoration to send keep with it for future generations. Unfortunately, Egan is already too long to sleep in it, but we plan to have him play in it before we pass it onto whomever is the next family member to have a baby.

Morgan is an amazing big sister. She absolutely adores Egan and has become quite confident with him. Watching he fall in love with him has been such a joy for Mike and me. If you need an amazing babysitter for your infant, she's ready!

We'll try to post photos and updates on Egan more frequently throughout the summer. Until then, Egan says, "Rock On!"

A Quick Peek Back

2009-04-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Now that a few months have passed and I can turn my head without pain I thought I would take a quick look back at my crash. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this for a while and thought I should record my thoughts before life moves too far down the road.

Here is what I know about what happened. On March 1 I was involved in an accident during a bike race in the Central Valley. Two of my competitors became entangled and caused a chain reaction crash that, from what I hear, took down half the group. I don’t remember any of the crash itself. I’ve learned since that I went over the handle bars at 30 mph and landed on the left side of my face. I’m told I was unconscious for 30-45 seconds. My first memory after the crash is of another competitor leaning over me asking me “Who is the president?” I couldn’t answer. I remember thinking “I know we just changed but I can’t remember who won”. I knew where I was, the name of the race and maybe even the date. I also knew I had been in a crash. At the time I knew I had gone down hard but didn’t think I was too badly injured.

If you’ve never crashed your bike while riding fast you’re lucky. My favorite description comes from local cycling guru Michael Hernandez in
this post

"well, it's like this ~ get in your car and find yourself a nice quite country road. Bring the speed up to around 30mph. Keep it steady at 30, maybe click on the 'cruise control' if you've got it, ok?

now, roll down your window, peep your head out the car and look down at the passing pavement. Look at all those jagged little crushed rocks and sand-papery surfaces. Ok, got used to the speed? Then open up your door ... don't be afraid. Open up your door and lean out a bit (keep that speed up!). Now slowly reach a hand down toward the road zipping by underneath. Think about it, just for an instant ... reach out and touch that road. Go ahead, try it. Reach out and touch it.

and just when you're about to touch the road? in that moment of concentration where your fingers are dangling between the edge of safety and dangerous contact ...

have somebody push your ass out of the car."

So there I was, lying on the pavement after ‘having my ass pushed out of the car’. While I wasn’t too concerned about my injuries, those who were treating me were. I was strapped to a back board, shuttled by ambulance to an open space, loaded into a helicopter and flown to the trauma center at Mercy Medical Center in Merced. There I was scanned, stitched, braced and sent home with my slightly traumatized but heroic pregnant wife.

At the hospital they told me I had broken a bone at the base of my skull called the occipital condyle. Over the next three days I would learn that I also broke my cheek bone (zygomatic arch) and had compressed my T8 vertebra. The following few months were an exercise in pain management.

I happy to say now that I’m mostly recovered. My back still gets tired but it’s getting stronger every day. I’m able to ride my bike again and enjoy getting out on the road.

After the pain meds wore off and I had time to reflect, I was initially curious about the crash itself. I wondered what I could have done to avoid it. I wondered why this time I hadn’t been able to ‘roll with the punches’ when I had avoided serious injury in the past.

After my curiosity about the actual event was satisfied I began to think about what might have been. I thought about other riders who hadn’t been so lucky. I thought about track fixture Joe Fineman who is still in the hospital after crashing only a week or two after my accident. I thought about our friend Pat Currant who was killed by a car one summer day after a series of crashes during spring races. While my neck and back were painful I consider myself lucky to be walking and breathing.

Ultimately I had to consider why I was willing to take such risks as part of my hobby. I ride and race my bike to stay physically fit. It seems counter productive to participate in a hobby that could easily result in critical injury. Since my crash I’ve found myself paying more attention to local race accidents. It seems almost weekly I hear a story of serious injury. It has definitely made me pause. Bike racing is fun but it isn’t worth missing a single day with a daughter or son. Cycling brought my wife and I together but racing isn’t worth missing a future with her. So my crash has lead to a great deal of soul searching about the future of bike racing in this family. I will race again. I have already raced two time trials since my crash. I love bike racing and I would hate for my last race to be the one which I can’t remember ending. But rest assured that my future in bike racing will have a different look than it has in the past.

Be safe out there.

Cherry Pie

2009-02-09T09:35:00.001-08:00

I headed up to Napa yesterday morning to watch a few of the early races. I was planning to come back for the afternoon's Star Studded Extravaganza but homework help got in the way. Turns out all the EuroStars stayed home leaving our local heroes to slug it out.

There are a few pics from the day here.

Sleeping through the night

2009-02-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

I am at week 28 of my pregnancy.

For several weeks, I had horrible calf, shin and foot cramps which woke me up throughout the night, in addition to nerve pain in my heel. All of this seemed due to circulation issues related to the dramatic increase in blood volume one has at this stage of pregnancy.

I experimented with all sorts of things, from regular midnight trips to the foam roller, to compression socks, to calcium/magnesium pills, to Mike's fabulous foot and calve massages, to sleeping with my feel elevated. Each helped in its own unique way, but no combination of these treatments seemed to completely alleviate the problem.

Having biked all 7 days of the past week (130 miles this week!) and not once waking up in the middle of the night, I am now convinced that biking is the miracle cure.

Ok, you doubt me. You're thinking placebo effect. But I swear, it's the cure. This weekend was the minty team camp at the Kloverdale KOA. In addition to karaoke, Jay's super-pro photo shoot, and lots of laughs, I hung in on a 50 mile ride today, which included a whole lot more time in zones 3-4 than I had done in many moons. By "a whole lot more" I mean only that my 10min. max power was in zone 3/4, not that any significant among of time was there. But the little guy and I did hit 670 watts at some point hanging on to a city-line sprint which, at +30pounds and +6.5 months if of pregnancy felt pretty damn good.

Once constant question which comes up again and again is whether it's safe to have my HR rise above 140 beats per minute which seems to be the internet's conventional wisdom. This article is the most comprehensive one I've found yet which responds to this issue and encourages women to use the Borg rating for perceived exertion over a flat HR number.

My HR did hit 189 for a brief moment today (I swear I sat up after that!), and the little guy is kicking like crazy at the moment, so I'm assuming that all is well and both he and mom just need a good night's sleep! Luckily, the sleeping seems to be going well this week.

Not in my backyard...

2009-01-22T18:57:00.000-08:00

From Monday's SF Chronicle:
" Emotions are running high in usually placid Piedmont over where hundreds of children should attend classes while an elementary school undergoes seismic reconstruction.
When school administrators proposed busing kids a few miles down the hill, out of the tony enclave and into Emeryville, you'd have thought they had committed treason.
A group of "concerned Piedmont parents" took out a half-page ad in the town paper railing against the move and noting that 24 registered sex offenders live within a mile of the Emeryville school.
"If a Piedmont student or teacher is assaulted (or worse) at the Emeryville campus and the Piedmont School District is sued...what additional liability does the school's legal counsel thing that Piedmont's taxpayers would bear?" the ad in the Piedmont Post asked."

As a public school teacher myself, nothing gets my blood boiling more than the assumption that safety issues are more important for your own kids, than other families children. If the Emeryville schools aren't safe enough for Piedmont kids, then why aren't Piedmont parents up in arms about the Emeryville kids who have no choice but to attend these schools?

Chew on that one.

near the close of my 2nd trimester

2009-01-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

25 = number of weeks pregnant

30 = number of pounds gained

1= number of times I fell while cross country skiing last weekend and wondered if a fall on icy snow was a very good idea

1= number of times I've woken up in the morning with a pulled muscle as the result of a midnight charlie-horses

4=number of east bay pregnant bike racers i currently have to bike with

1,713= number of miles i've biked with our little Buddah

There's A Buzz In The Air...

2009-01-08T17:23:00.000-08:00

A couple of us here are getting pretty excited about the upcoming weekend. We're headed up the hill to celebrate a friends 40th and get in a little snow time. We're happy for the old man but the birthday's not what's causing the buzz (sorry C). Little M is excited because we're bringing her best friend and she can't believe she gets to spend the whole weekend with her. "It's like a three day sleepover" she exclaimed on the way home from school today.

I'm jazzed because I get to strap on the boards for the first time in over two years. Long time readers know I like to skate. Before winter training for cycling it's what I did most weekends in the season of short days (in fact I have as many pairs of XC skis as I do bikes). I learned to ski late in life and enjoy coasting down hill now and then but I didn't really get the ski bug until I started skating. In my mind it's the perfect combination of quiet snowy solitude and exercise. You can noodle along and enjoy the evergreens if you're feeling pensive. On the other hand, you can shift it in gear sending your heart rate through the top of your head and searing your legs and lungs while you grind up a hill. Stepping over the top you tuck and run, blasting down the hill and swooping around corners at speeds you're pretty sure aren't safe (kinda like cycling now that you mention it). Over the years the trudge up the hill starts to wear on you and when Little M started school we were stuck in traffic with all the other snow nuts. So I opted for the convenience of triathlon and cycling but I still love to skate and now I can hardly wait.

I Likes me Some Family Dinner Time

2009-01-07T20:12:00.001-08:00

Is it just me, or did 2009 welcome in the year of the door-to-door solicitor?

We have LITERALLY had someone ring our doorbell every night this week between the hours of 6:00-7:00, asking for a donation to their cause: Peace Action Group; Young Democrats; students trying to raise money for college by selling magazines. It's all for a good cause, but after giving 8+ hours a day to molding 13-year-old mathematical minds of our angelic Berkeley youth, I just don't feel like I need to give after-hours as well. I give in a lot of ways, both financially and of my time. But damned if I'll give my time or money at 6:30pm in the middle of dinner.

EVERY NIGHT? I'm not sure how much longer I can take this. So, if you'd like to ask for my time or money, I'm all ears, but don't mess with my dinner, please.

Boys on Bikes

2009-01-05T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Metromint Men's team held their annual camp this weekend. Eighteen of us made the trek down to a quiet little region of the state near the tiny town (intersection really) of Lockwood. The roads were great; quiet, smooth and beautiful. On Day 1 we put in some big miles with lots of climbing during a trek through Fort Hunter Liggett out to the coast and back. Day 2 was a flatter tour southeast of Paso Robles with the normal boy shenanigans. The weather was cool but clear (yes that's frost on my saddle).

This was my first Men’s Camp and it was a blast! I’m looking forward to All Team Camp in a few weeks.

I still have some work to do before I’m on form but the boys in dots are going to have some weapons this year…brace yourselves ;).

Bellas and Bellies

2008-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I owe a huge thanks to Erika and Linda for inviting me out to the Bella ride today. I learned a great lesson in the power of the group ride. Flashback to yesterday: Mike and I head out for a ride. I turn around at the top of Tunnel Road (5 miles from home) feeling fat and depressed that my belly has gotten so big that riding the road bike cuts off circulation in my legs. I ride home alone, lamenting the fact that this might be the last ride on my beloved Moots for the remaining 4 months of pregnancy.

A few hours later , in swoops Mike (from aformentioned ride), declaring that the Moots is ready to rumble on tomorrow's Velo Bella group ride. Mike has added spacers, flipped the stem, and tilted the handlebars up towards the heavens, allowing me to sit upright while I ride. Although it didn't look like this handlebar attachment, it felt about the same.

So, today, I was a new woman and clicked away 55 miles with a crew of fabulous Bellas and Left Coast women. I think I have about 3 weeks left with this current upright setup, and then I might have to hang her up and become friends with my new mountain bike.

Coffee Talk

2008-12-14T11:25:00.001-08:00

I'm midway through my pregnancy. Our little Buddah is kicking regularly, even as I type this post. These daily reminders that he's healthy and growing are a thrill and Mike and I have already started 'watching' baby TV, meaning that we sit in silence with our hands on my belly, entertained by our little guy's actions.

The second trimester has been a breeze so far. My only complaint is that I sure could use a few more gears on the bike to get my extra 24 pounds up the steeper climbs. I did my first mama group ride yesterday with Taitt and Emily, both of whom are due within a few weeks of me. It was a blast.

One additional perk of the second trimester, is that coffee is starting to sound appealing again. Although I have been pregnant for 21 weeks, today was only my 3rd cup of coffee. It's freezing cold and raining and a good cup-o-Joe at Cole, along with some real cream, sounded like a great way to start this lazy Sunday.

You cannot imagine my surprise, when I discovered this article on the cover of today's SF Chronicle. Simeon, the boy pictured with his mother, enrolled in my pre-algebra class last May. He was living in a shelter and had missed the entire year of school up until that point. His mother was eager to get materials for him to study at home. Simeon shined, not just in math class, but in English where he was students' favorite choice to read Shakespeare aloud because of his gift for intonation and making the books come alive. He was my student again this year in algebra until his sudden departure at the end of October. His mother stopped by the office to return his textbooks, but we never knew why she had moved him to another school.

Coffee mug in hand, rain crackling on the Cole Coffee awning, it was a great morning to read the SF Chronicle and discover that there's a happy ending to his departure from my school.

Kickin' on the Coast

2008-12-01T09:04:00.000-08:00

We spent the weekend up on the Sonoma Coast. We found a little house overlooking the water and surrounded by good rides. We took along enough of the kitchen and 'wine cellar' to assure we could fully participate in the season of gluttony. Then for four days we

rode

and ate

and rode

and ate

and recovered.

Big Weekend Spills Over...a little.

2008-11-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

Wow, that was some crazy fun. First it was the Big Game. My grad school buddy scored me a ticket. My first big game in many years and while the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium has changed a bit (fodder for another post) it was great fun. Neither team executed particularly well but The Bears had enough tricks up their sleeves to bring home the 'W'. Nothing like a sea of blue and gold on the field at the end of the Big Game.

Then, Sunday was the Big Ride. I'm sad to admit this was my first. About 100 Cal, Stanford and random cyclists gathered in Sproul Plaza early Sunday morning. After ascending Tunnel Road in one big mass groups split off in about 5 different directions for rides of varying intensity and length. I chose to stick with these cross dressing collegiate guys on the long-medium paced ride. We probably averaged a medium pace but most of the time it was either Hammer or wait.

Finally, today I extended the fun a little and journeyed out to the Tri-Valley area for a flat land spin with the 'G' man. I also brought him his new duds. Damn sexy if you ask me.

Ultrasound is Megacool

2008-11-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our first ultrasound appointment. I remember being impressed when Little M was in the oven but I had forgotten how cool it really is. Seeing tiny fingers, toes, heads and hearts on the monitor makes it all very real.

It would have been more fun if we were just there for the pictures but Ali had amnio as well. Not a procedure for someone who does not like needles. It was touch and go for a few minutes but she recovered nicely in true Ali fashion. I was amazed at how much fluid they drew. She's taking it as easy as possible for a few days and we're keeping our fingers crossed until the results return.

4.8 is the magic number

2008-11-09T21:54:00.000-08:00

I love Beth!

But before I divulge the details of my love-affair, let me set the record straight. Yes, I am pregnant. Beginning my 16th week to be exact. In Mike's last post he and Soni both had some vague references to pregnancy which caused more than 1 friend to write an inquisitive email about whether or not they had cracked the code in the blog.

Now, folks are full of advice when they learn such news. But the ones who amuse me most are the men who try to race me up the hills who DON'T know this news. Beth and I met one of them today. I think I'll ask Metromint & Louie Garneau to print this on the back of my kit to let these men know that they are barking up the wrong tree if they want to take me on.

This would be good, not just for the guys who enjoy drafting off of my engarlged booty, but those to want to push the pace to see if they can drop me.

The answer to the second inquiry is a resounding YES.

Which gets me back to Beth and the title of this blog. Beth was kind enough to ride the 3-Bears with me this afternoon. And when I say "with" I mean she actually tolerated my ever slowing pace, for all 3+ hours. I was quite happy when I looked down at my powermeter on Mama Bear and it proudly displayed 4.8 mph. Did I mention that I'm almost 4 months pregnant? We may not have broken the sound barrier while climbing, but I didn't cough up a lung either.

When I invited her to ride with me this afternon, she was worried that she was encrouching on date time between Mike and me. Mike always corrects me when I say that 'we' are pregnant. He reminds me that it's really just me. There's no better reminder that 'we' are not pregnant than when I go for a long ride with Mike. He managed to drop me before we even got across town to Spruce. But he's always circling back and would have stayed with us the entire ride were it not for a ticking clock reminding us that Lil M had to be picked up from her friend's at a specific time.

After our lovely jaunt over the hills, we came home to a fabulous pot pie from BakeSale Betty's. Twas quite an amazing afternoon!

Off Season Ends With Some Wine

2008-11-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the last official day of 'off season'. We had plans to meet Soni and Jeff in Lodi for the Giro d Vino but the weather was threatening a rain delay. Fortunately, we woke to clear-ish skies and decent biking weather so we zig-zagged our way through the delta out to the Woodbridge Winery for the start of the ride.

Ali was a little nervous about riding 64 miles in her condition but we were assured the route was pancake flat and it was. Ali also tried to temper the pace by being the wine pusher for the day. She isn't drinking but wanted to make sure the rest of us didn't miss a stop or a sip.

All in all it was a great day! Nice weather, an easy route, good wine and great company. What more could you ask for?

Here are a few photos we took along the way.

There were crayfish in the puddles along the road.

The winery cat's really know how to relax.

Bike helmets are an essential part of wine tasting safety.

Intense

2008-09-12T10:38:00.001-07:00

Quiet as a Superbowl Sunday

2008-08-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

I was a little worried as we headed out on our ride this evening. The commute traffic can be a little testy and not much fun for riding. As we climbed the hill we found the roads were quiet, almost too quiet. It was like riding on a Superbowl Sunday or Christmas morning only better. We rolled along enjoying the open roads, knowing all the East Bay liberals were glued to the TV watching the half-time show of this political Superbowl (Even the local ice cream hot spot, Ici, was empty this balmy evening.) And when we arrived home we enjoyed dinner and a terrific speech...on Tivo.

Great America...One Year Later

2008-08-21T21:27:00.001-07:00

Summer is drawing to a close and we're trying to pack in a few more adventures before Little M heads back to school. Tuesday we went to Great America for a couple of hours of amusement park. We went about this same time last year. Little M isn't normally a thrill seaker so during our previous visit the day was mostly spent on the carnival rides and the log ride. This year started out the same but then we got up the nerve to try Flight Deck.

Well, I think we've created a monster. We were barely out of the exit when she asked if we could do it again. We waited a few minutes for the cobwebs to clear and then strapped ourselves in for another whip around the lake. I should have guessed things had changed when she asked for this temporary tatoo.

Pay me to bike to work?

2008-07-30T23:30:00.001-07:00

Between Facebook, blog, email, phone, bike rides, and track, I just can't keep track of how to communicate anymore. Too many options!

So, for the second time this week, I'm using the blog to respond to Lauren. I could do this directly and keep the rest of you out of the loop, but what fun would that be?

I nearly spit out my Italian-roast coffee when I read this over breakfast. An Emeryville achitect firm, Siegel & Strain, paying their employees 'gas' mileage when they bike to meetings? Now that's hot!

Lauren's Life of Leisure

2008-07-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

Lauren's Facebook update today, yearning for a life of leisure, prompted me to write this post. She's gonna kill me for this, but while riding earlier this week, I told her that I really admire her & Morgan for their balance of parenting and bike riding, so I'm hoping she'll eventually forgive me.

My Berkeley middle school is still looking to hire a few hearty souls for this upcoming school year. Applicants must be willing to endure a rigorous job-training program during the month of July:

First, mix one part of this:

With two parts of that

Then, retreat here

for summer book group reading.

Then, blend 5 parts of this

with 2 parts of that

Top it off with a lot of this,

and you've got yourself a job!

Job description can change without prior notice and there's no guarantee that October's work will resemble July's. Apply now for full summer benefits.

Superweek Reports

2008-07-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

We finally got around to writing a few stories about our trip back to Corn Country. They're on the team site here and here.

Some of the more colorful stories still might trickle out here on the blog.

Eat more ice cream!

2008-07-24T16:51:00.001-07:00

Mike and I just bought an ice cream maker. Hans suggested we get a hand crank, but with the quantities of ice cream that we eat, we'd have unnecessarily bulging biceps after only a few weeks. Little M has been the impetus for our first two flavor creations: strawberry, rhubarb, lavender sorbet and pear carmel ice cream. She's as addicted to reading the cookbook and choosing new flavors as we are to finishing off a pint a day.

This steady increase of our ice cream intake appears to be inversely proportional to my desire to train and race. I have definitely lost the bug (you'll have to hang tight another day before my tell-all Superweek report is posted). I listened to podcasts of Spanish news broadcasts today and was quite content to completely space out and pay no attention whatsoever to my powertap.

So, the question of the day is, how to eat copious quantities of ice cream, enjoy my crisp Spanish rose wine, not train, and...drum roll...not gain weight.

Luckily, I have teammates to support me in this endeavor. Amanda housesat for us while we were in Europe and discovered a fascinating tidbit while reading Bill Bryson's, "A Short History of Nearly Everything" On average, people have 5 pounds of dead skin.

So, what's a non-training, ice cream eater's response? Buy a loofa! I've been loofa-ing steadily now for 2 days, resulting in a .1 lb weight decrease. Then again, maybe I just ate less ice cream today than yesterday. My mediocre results led me to do some very serious research on the interwebs to see how else I can address this dire issue.

Here's what I found. You'll have to trust that this is straight off the web as there is no bibliography at the end of this post:

Did you know you can absorb up to five lbs. of chemicals every year from make-up and other "beauty" products?

You swallow about one quart of snot every day.

About ten billion tiny scales of skin rub off your body every day. In a lifetime, you could fill eight five-pound flour bags with dead skin.

Most people nearly have 5 pounds of dead skin, normally. If they can shed these 5 pounds within a short duration, then it would really be good. But most of them are trapped with their busy schedules and are unable to spare any time for the workout sessions. Hence a new device has been introduced that assists in removing the dead skin from the body using a vacuum system.

My August training plan:

Buy a heavy-duty vacuum, blow my nose several times a day, toss out the makeup, loofa morning, noon, and night...rinse...repeat.

shazam

2008-07-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

We are finally home. After our wedding, ending the school year, two weeks of cycling in Europe, and ten days of racing at Superweek, our summer excitement has come to an end. It has been a wonderful 6 weeks, but we're both ready to ratchet down the pace a few clicks.

There are Supweek race reports to be written, tomatoes to be staked, and bikes to be unpacked. But in the meantime, we're gonna uncork one of Hutch's sassy Spanish sippers and BBQ us some shrimp with mango salsa.

Burger King Corner

2008-07-20T10:10:00.001-07:00

Getting a call up this afternoon in the Evanston Grand Prix, my hometown crit.

The real question is whether I'll stick it out til the end of the race. These enormous packs aren't my cup of tea, nor is the "Burger King corner" where traffic furniture leads us from a wide boulevard into a 1 lane corner.

Finally got away...

2008-07-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

After pulling the group around too much on Monday I've been a bit of a marked man. Every break attempt has been covered quickly. Yesterday I hoped the power climb might provide a good spot to attack the local flat landers. A last minute pit stop left me lined up at the back, bad timing on my part. Two went off the front from the gun but I couldn't sneak through the crowd to join them. Three laps later, when the pace slowed on the hill, I made my bridge attempt. A quick glance back and showed some daylight so I kept the pressure on. The pack surged a few times following bridge attempts but I managed to stay away and ultimately put time into the pack. Unfortunately I couldn't close on the break of two but am happy with the podium.

Check it out!!!

2008-07-15T20:58:00.001-07:00

Where to send it?

2008-07-15T20:56:00.001-07:00

Ali mentioned that I had a little windfall of $90 yesterday. I can't in good conscience keep the money so I thought I would give it to a good (preferably biking related) cause. I have a few ideas but thought you all might have some that I wouldn't think of. Any thoughts about good organizations that could use $90 in cash?

$150 and a Slice of Pie

2008-07-14T21:55:00.001-07:00

Day 1 of Superweek: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

THE GOOD:
Mike enjoyed a rare small field of in a masters’ race. Intolerant of the predominance of negative racing, he spent well over 50% of the race on the front of the field, singlehandedly chased down the break, rode the last 5 laps as the exclusive man on the front, and still was able to unleash his sprint for 3rd. That was the first $60 for the coffers. Then, in some crazy stroke of Midwestern kindness, the guy (pictured in the photo)who won came up to Mike and insisted that he keep his $90 of winnings. Huh? He was so thankful for Mike keeping the pace high for the last few laps and said that he had done no work the entire race and Mike deserved his winnings. Damn, that’s some generous Midwestern guilt.

THE BAD:
I went home with a huge slice of humble pie. This was my first non-local P-1-2 race and the first where the P category was represented in good standing. It hurt. I got dropped. All I can say is that is WAS NOT fun to hurt that much and eventually (after less minutes than there are ounces in a Venti Starbucks coffee), I just didn’t want to do it anymore. Elis gave me some very sound advice this evening and I promise to not be such a pain-wuss tomorrow. I have been practicing my suffer-face in front of the mirror all evening. Actually, I think the suffer was induced by the gargantuan chocolate chip cookie which I had after dinner, but I’m not so sure.

THE UGLY:
Starla and Ali. Here’s basically how the race went for us both. Wanna guess which of us kicked ass today?

Le Ouch

2008-07-09T22:25:00.001-07:00

I am moved to sing praises for my teammate Monique. We headed out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate Amanda’s birthday. There we were, drinking margaritas on the deck, when I startled the crowd with a cry of pain. I had reached under the table for my napkin, and somehow had graised the inside of the wooden table. My finger emerged with a huge splinter under my fingernail. This was not some tiny speckle of wood, but a fat, pointed slice of wood which drove itself clear down from my fingertip to the bottom of my cuticle. Serious buzz kill.

Other than having me drink a lot more margaritas, no one was quite sure what to do with me. Mike (and my mother) have been privy to more than one post-doctor visit phone call when I am seeing spots, tolerating ringing in my ears, drenched in sweat, and on the verge of fainting from some minor procedure which has freaked me out.

As I pondered my finger’s fate, Mike ran across the street to a Walgreens and bought tweezers and nail clippers.

Step 1: Clip the nail super-short for better access to the splinter.
Step 2: Carefully grab the splinter. Confidently yank it out so as to not break it and leave it inaccessible under my nail.

Monique’s swift hand, a mouthful of cerviche, and a bit of pre-chugging of the margarita made the procedure quite swift. It hurt like hell, but…mom will be proud…I didn’t end up with my head between my legs, warding off the dreaded faint.

Mike was the highly-paid photographer. At the end of the tweezers, you’ll see the splinter. Remember, this whole thing was under my fingernail! Yes, it was at least 1 foot long… I'm sure of it!!!

Cancel your health insurance. Dr. Monique is your woman.

A Pearl In The Paella

2008-07-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we're back...trying to get back into the swing of things. The rest of our trip was nice, although we ended up enjoying our time in France more than the time in Spain.

After our spectacular trip in France we packed up the car and drove 4 hours from Provence to the Costa Brava of Spain. The first two nights we stayed in a small Renaissance town east of Girona called Paratallada. The hotel and the town were run as a historic tourist attraction within a state park. The surrounding area was mostly agricultural land nestled between Girona and the Mediterranean. The riding was nice but not nearly as spectacular as France. We spent one day doing the well known Els Angels loop which includes Hincapie Hill. It was a nice ride but we had a hard time figuring out where else one would ride out of Girona.

The next two nights we moved out to the coast (about 20K away) and stayed at El Far Hotel in Llafranc. For those of you who aren't well versed in Spanish, El Far is The Lighthouse. The Costa Brava is hilly. Beaches are tucked into rocky coves surrounded by steep cliffs. El Far was at the top of one of those cliffs. The views were spectacular. Walking or riding to the hotel was a good workout. For our last day of riding we decided to hug the coast and check out some of the beach towns. As you can imagine, this involved a great deal of climbing or descending. The roads up and down the hills seemed to range between 10% and 20% grades. Wrong turns resulted in some serious grinding climbs to backtrack but the scenery was spectacular.

As we headed up to El Far on the final climb of the day (and the final climb of the trip) Ali threw down the gauntlet and set a fast tempo up the hill. For the next 8-10 minutes we had a nice little duel on the hills of Llafranc. Nothing like a little competition on some STEEP hills to help you set some new PR's for power output.

So, if you haven't figured it out yet, we like to eat. Our travel enjoyment is directly related to our enjoyment of the food. Some people like to see art, cathedrals, natural wonders...we like quite beautiful roads for riding and tasty food at the end of the day. The food in Provence was incredible...every day. In Spain we weren't having the same luck. Most meals were OK, some not so good. So after our little duel we decided to make the long trek back to Girona and try a little restaurant that looked promising on our previous visit. Ali had stopped in to ask for directions and was impressed by the owner. He seemed very detail oriented and we hoped his attention to detail would carry over to his food. We weren't disappointed. We decided to try the pre fixe menu: a 9 course meal with wine pairings. By the time we were done we were pretty sure it was one of the best meals we have eaten. So, if you're in Girona check out Mimolet.

Our next stop was Barcelona...but that's going to have to be another entry.

Gorges du Verdon

2008-06-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

It's just after midnight here. Dinner is sooooo late I have trouble sleeping. Ali's asleep so I'm looking for stuff to do...hence the blog.

Today we drove (too far) from Menerbes to Gorges du Verdon, the 'Grand Canyon' of France. I was feeling a bit sluggish when we started so we didn't really have an agenda. After an hour of climbing the East rim of the canyon we reached a lookout spot. We had a snack and took some pictures and then decided to continue on a bit further. Warning: you know you've been in the mountains when you say 'It's only another 1000 feet up'.

The Gorges were great but it was nice to get back to our hotel for our final honeymoon dinner in France. The meal was great and we had a little surprise when we got back to our room after dinner.

Montage

2008-06-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

After our epic ride we’ve been moving a little slowly. We briefly considered trekking up to the Alps to ride l’Alpe d’Huez and Col du Galibier but decided it would be too much time in the car. So, the last two days have been spent mostly exploring by car. Visiting some of the well known sites in the area and checking out some of the local markets. We’ll let the pictures speak.

One more day in Provence and then…vamos a España!

Let's Not Forget...

2008-06-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

It’s still bike racing season. While it may seem like we’re over here in the old country working on our tans and wishing we had a few more notches in our belts we haven’t forgotten that Superweek is just around the corner. So, with that in mind we planned a little training ride to prepare us for the racing to come.

Many of you may think of the Midwest as pancake flat but it isn’t. There are a few hills, Allison learned to ski on suburban Chicago’s Mt. Trashmore; as a child growing up in Iowa, I lived in fear of riding up Benton Street on my bike. So, we thought a little climbing might be a good addition to the training plan. Also, the races at Superweek tend to be a bit longer than many of your local crits often ranging from 60-90 minutes, so we wanted to ensure that we don’t arrive ill prepared.

Some rides become epic purely by accident; mechanical problems, weather changes or unfettered pets wreak havoc on what should be a leisurely ride. Other rides have mild potential due to distance and or elevation gain. And then there are rides that are epic from the first moment the idea is uttered into the ethos. Yesterday was one of those days.

As we mentioned, Mt. Ventoux is visible from the road outside our hotel. By visible, we mean its peak can be distinguished from the distant clouds on the horizon with the just the right level of squint of the eyes. At some point one of us proposed riding from our hotel to the mountain, up the mountain and back…an epic ride was conceived.

We figured that we wouldn’t stop for lunch, so we did our best to gorge ourselves on the gourmet breakfast at our hotel. The staff at the hotel thought we were insane, “Maud, you are maud” they said as they pointed out the sheer distance we’d have to ride, coupled with the 90+ degree weather and gusty winds. We replied that the Tour de France does similar distances up these same roads. They countered “Ze are paid to ride up zee mountain.”

We smiled, grabbed a few more chocolate croissants for the road, donned our Minty suits, and headed north. Each road was as car-free and breathtaking as the next. Our route took us through lavender fields, a pack of German cyclists, goat cheese producers, farm stands of fresh honey, castles atop red cliffs, steep gorges , endless rows of grape vines, and so much more.

Have you endured the 14 mile climb to the treeless, exposed peak of Mt. Ventoux? If not, you’d never guess what you’ll find there: sugar, as far as the eye can see. We spent almost $20 and it still wasn’t enough to fuel as home without a bit of bonking.

Ninety-four miles and not nearly enough water or calories later, we were ‘home’. Dinner included gazpacho accompanied with tomato sorbet and roasted sweet pepper ‘foam’, roasted duck in a lavender honey glaze, and rhubarb crisp with coconut sorbet. Twist my arm and maybe we can do it again tomorrow.

Superweek here we come ;).

Action photos here and here.

Lavender Fields Forever..

2008-06-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

We normally do a lot of research on our destinations before we pick a town and a hotel. We consider restaurants, sights, cycling…many guide books and web sites are consulted before the final selection is made. This year we did something new…we simply took a good friend’s recommendation. With wedding planning, the end of school (etc.) we didn’t feel like we had the time to do our normal due diligence. We knew the hotel would be phenomenal but we didn’t have a good understanding of where we would be situated within Provence. As we consulted the maps the day before we left and on the plane, we realized we could not have picked a better spot.

The hotel is situated in a vineyard with beautiful grounds, a pool and a fantastic restaurant. Actually there’s no actual ‘restaurant’, just an open kitchen and tables set up on the patio, overlooking their vineyard. There are many great local roads right out our door for biking and exploring. We are within an hour drive of many other great sights and cycling classics (more about those in the days to come).

Today we decided to take another easy spin and explore some of the neighboring towns. What a great day! We’ve all seen the photos of Provence when the lavender is in bloom but what the photos don’t capture is all the other dimensions: the smells, the sounds, the warm sun and breezes. All day long we felt like we were riding through a sachet. We would be riding along, turn a corner and we were enveloped in lavender or honeysuckle. Diesel cars would grumble by and I would think ‘you don’t know what you’re missing.’ The roads here are incredible networks of rural outlets. Cars pass at rate of one to two every ten minutes. Heaven? Absolutely.

After a meandering 70 K of lavender, vineyards and medieval towns we returned to the hotel for a dip in the pool and a scrumptious dinner. Our knowledge of appertifs is improving by the day as we use every opportunity to try something new.

Kir: homemade Crème de Casis mixed with white wine
Rin Quin Quin: peach liquor served over ice
Melon liquor, also served over ice
Fig wine

Life is hard, but we’ll suffer through it.

Tomorrow we conquer….The Beast (Mt. Ventoux will be our first famous assent of the trip)!

Beaune

2008-06-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

As you can see, we’ve decided to try a few new things on this trip. France (as opposed to Italy) and using extra miles to fly business class being just the first two. The next new thing we decided to try was driving. It seemed like it would provide an opportunity to see the French countryside, be a little easier to deal with the bikes and give us some flexibility for sight seeing. So after our luxurious flight, we picked up the car and jumped on the Parisian freeways…at rush hour. Talk about Baptism by Fire. With Ali navigating and my eyes on the road we managed to get out of Paris without incident. There was a major accident that caused a huge traffic jam…reminded us of home.

It’s a long drive from Paris to Provence so we decided to take a day and investigate Burgundy (Bourgogne) and spend a day in the town of Beaune near Dijon. We had a great day walking around town, taking a spin through the vineyards and generally getting adjusted to the time zone.

Tuesday evening we set out for a classic French dinner. On the way we made a quick stop at a bar for a little aperitif, the local favorite is a Kir, yum! Then we headed over to the restaurant which was a converted wine cave. We shared a couple of classic French entrees and of course we had to partake in the cheese course. We half expected Julia Child to step out of the kitchen at any moment. We enjoyed everything but agreed that we’re not huge fans of ‘classic’ French food.

Tomorrow we head South…can’t wait.

Le travel to France

2008-06-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Many moons ago, when we planned our honeymoon, Mike suggested (in fact, strongly encouraged) that we fly first class. Despite us having enough frequent flier miles between us for 2 first class tickets to Europe, I was hesitant. I know you’re thinking I’m an idiot for being so frugal, but I thought that we shouldn’t use so many miles on a single trip.

Thanks to Mike, we are celebrating our honeymoon in style, and had a lovely night at the Four Seasons Lufthansa in ‘rooms’ 4A and 4B. I have never flown first class before and frankly, it makes me want to bid adeau to developing young mathematical minds in Berkeley and say ‘yes I do’ to being an investment banker for a firm wealthy enough to send me around the world in first class. The continual refill of Champagn, then Riesling, and finally Bailey’s were a fine trio of drinks. They perfectly accompanied our grilled jumbo shrimp with mango salsa, grilled salmon with fava and celeric root puree, raisin bread pudding, and cheese plate. The most difficult decision of the evening was which of the 50 movies to choose from the On Demand movies shown on my individual video screen. And finally, my ergometric seat reclined into a bed, with subtle adjustments for lumbar support while massaging my lower back. Eureka!

We are now in Frankfurt, awaiting our flight to Pairs. I have two favorite parts of this airport. First, there are these jail cells for smokers…enclosed, individual glass cages where you can be seen and gauked at by the passing tourists as you puff your heart out. And the bikes! This airport is enormous, larger than the state of Delaware, and the airport workers are all scurrying around on these folding bicycles. Give ‘em fixies and they’d be ready for the track in no time.

AVC < Honeymoon

2008-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

I have been pretending I'm not sick for many days now. Honestly, I'm not sick. But I've also been pretending that I'm not sick. Ok, maybe I'm a little bit sick.

I have been looking forward to racing with the big girls at AVC for many weeks now. But I pulled the plug this morning as this chest, head cold thingy just won't quit. I'd be happy to race, even though I'm not quite 100%, but this honeymoon thing sure would be a lot more fun if I could get rid of this lingering "I'm not really sick even though I am sick" vibe.

Mike complemented me on my decision as I normally totally ignore symptoms when I am sick and push on, pretending that my body is feeling fine.

So, honeymoon comes first. I mean, you only get one of those (although Mike would beg to differ. But he's not getting any more; nor am I). I am staying home tonight to take good care of myself so come Sunday, my nose can get the full bouquet of the French wine and cheese which are coming our way.

But man oh man, am I disappointed.

You been bikin in France lately?

2008-06-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Dear friendly neighborhood bikers:

For endless thanks and good karma, we'd like to offer you the opportunity to share your best French adventures with us. This Sunday we embark on our honeymoon. Yea for us. We're spending 10 days in France (2 nights near Dijon and 7 nights in Provence), followed by 3 nights in Spain, near Girona. I figure someone in our vast network of blog readers must have been to one of these places. If so, we'd love to hear some highlights. Also, if you've biked up Mt. Ventoux and have a favorite route, we're all ears.

We'll be eating a lot of this

and drinking even more of that

and spending any remaining time doing a whole lot of this

Prizes for the best suggestions...

Hey Girl...

2008-06-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

Words were exchanged between me and some men both before and after the Masters 3/4 Cyclesports Crit this weekend.

**Critical knowledge for story: The only races for women were the junior state championships and the W 3/4 field.**

It went something like this:

SCENE 1: Outside Porta-Potty in Livermore parking lot

Twerpy guy: "It's great that you're racing twice today."

Ali: "Who me? No, I'm not a junior. I'm actually racing the Masters 3/4 race as it's the only one I can enter in here today."

TG: " You mean the women's 3/4?"

Ali: "No, the Men's 3/4."

TG: " Why aren't you racing the Women's 3/4 race?"

Ali: "Because I'm not a 3 and I'm not a 4."

TG: " So why are you racing the men's 3/4 instead of a women's race?"

Ali: (Thinking...because I came here specifically to kick your ass...) I mean... "Because I didn't want to drive my ass to Folsom when I could race right here at a local race."

TG: " Maybe you should downgrade."

Ali: Enters porta-potty without a response (at least not one he could hear)

SCENE 2: Warming up on road near race course.

Ali is doing a bit of tempo and passes twerpy guy and several of his teammates. As she passes them, she hears TG exclaim, "That girl thinks she's going to be able to race with us today."

As Ali has never done a men's 3 race before and isn't sure if she'll be dropped, she keeps her mouth shut. But she's pretty damn sure that if dropped, she'll be sure to be in front of TG and gap him off while slamming on her brakes.

SCENE 3: Race time

Ali is surprised at her technical prowess. She comes up with some rules of which wheels she shouldn't sit on: If you're not wearing a team kit, if you have a team jersey and black (non-team) shorts, if your number is flapping in the wind, if you have a saddle bag, if you're a skinny-ass climber type, or if you have unshaven legs...then you are NOT the wheel for me. Following these rules Ali is able to easily stay in the pack for the entire race. Ali likes big men's wheels, preferably when she is surrounded by them on all sides. Mmmmm good.

SCENE 4: Post race
Teammate of TG is on grass while Ali is riding, cooling down. He yells, "Hey girl, nice race." Ali has a lot of things she like to yell back, but she settles for, "My name is Allison," and keeps on riding.

A new set of eyes

2008-06-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, school is actually going to end. In the words of Beth (tracking her quads), "Thank you Jesus." As I was packing up my classroom this afternoon, our amazing custodian, Byron, gave me his impressions of the 8th grade dinner dance from last night. His take on growing older and watching a new generation of youth is that every generation has a new set of eyes watching them. So with our new eyes, we see how different that generation is from our own. Now that I have been an urban teacher for 9 years, my eyes (or at least my eyesight) is very different from what it was when I was in middle school. I wish I could peek back at my own middle school graduation with my better developed eyes. Oh well. At least I have my students to teach me a thing or two.

One highlight from 8th grade graduation this evening (and a stark contrast to my own back in the 80s in the Chicago suburbs) was the clothing choice.

This is a student of mine from last year. His custom, airblown, white suit jacket is complete with his portrait, including glitter to represent diamonds on his cheeks and teeth. Giddily, he busted out his cell phone to show me the photo of himself which the artist had used when creating this unique work of art.

On a somewhat related topic, an African-American student of mine gave me a lengthy explanation the other day about how he got his tight wave of tiny curls in his hair. It was told to me in that tone which adolescents use when they think you're really stupid. But despite his tone, he spent 10 minutes of his lunch break explaining this to me and I think he left proud that he could help a style-ignorant, white woman out.

These waves are made using a doo-rag, which is a type of hair net which has a pattern inside that creates the wave. You sleep in it for several months (and you'd wear it all day if strict Ms. Krasnow didn't make you take it off) and which results in this amazing wave. It's very subtle. I'd always assumed it was the result of a hair cut, not the patient use of a scarf. Tonight at graduation I noticed how many students had this wave and again felt ignorant for having never noticed it much before. The doo-rag looks a lot like this, with a scarf inside with the wave pattern . I find this amusing as us cyclists are such simpletons and use these things only to catch sweat.

So, as the class of 2008 heads off to high school, this teacher keeps her seat at the middle school table, eager for summer, but anticipating a new set of style lessons to be learned next fall. As Byron explain to me today while emptying the recycling, we're the same people, we just grow a new set of eyes every couple of years. I'll be sure to open mine wide.

Warning: May Be Habit Forming

2008-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

After a month long hiatus from racing we're on a bit of a racing binge. After our crit-a-thon on Sunday, my beautiful new wife hit the track on Tuesday and then we both made a repeat visit last night.

In the coming week and a half we will likely squeeze in another 3 to 4 days of racing. While it's all great fun one can only wonder...(I'll let each of you finish that thought your own way).

At least we each seem to be recovering quickly which bodes well for our planned pilgrimage to SuperWeek.

Back in the saddle

2008-06-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

We didn't get much saddle time the week before the wedding, more important things to do than ride. So we tried to make up for it this last week.

Sunday we headed up to Napa for a few days of R&R. Of course that means cycling, although I'm not sure which R cycling fits under. We found some wonderful roads to ride and only spent a few too many minutes on the bike. The Pope Valley on a Tuesday morning is pretty close to heaven on a bike. We'll be heading back sometime soon.

It was also time to end the race moratorium. This weekend was the 2 Wheel Criterium up in Santa Rosa. I decided to try the Jester special...a triple header. It was fun to get out racing again and although I didn't have any great results, I was pretty active in all three races.

A nice end to a 270 mile week

Tra la la

2008-06-05T19:59:00.001-07:00

Wedding stories to come, we promise. In the meantime, here's a teaser. Can you spot the two Mintie women in the photo?

I love my death grip on the chair. It's all fun and games to the grinning folks dancing around you, but I actually had to employ my mechanical bull riding balance skills to stay afloat. When I looked down and saw all my best biker girlfriends holding me up, I did get nervous...I mean we have NO arm muscles, if you know what I'm sayin. But if you can't fling your teammate into the air without dropping her, what kind of a teammate are you anyway?

Did you know...

2008-05-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

2nd period.
10am
7th grade science class, Berkeley, California

Topic: Sex Ed and STDs.

After the showing of a film on STDs and their prevention, a young man (let's call him Cole), raises his hand and the following exchange occurs with his teacher, Ms. James.

Cole: "Ms James, did you know that Ms. Krasnow is getting married this weekend?
Ms. James: "Why yes, I did."
Cole: "Don't you think you should lend her this movie before her wedding night?"

Gotta love those 7th graders...always looking out for me.

Blistering

2008-05-25T15:21:00.001-07:00

A Must See

2008-05-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

After playing follow the leader with Mike and Gianni for just short of 80 miles today, there was no energy left for wedding planning. I was nearly comatose, but Mike insisted that we'd sleep better if we made one last to-do list for this final week. So over carb-o-licious spicy noodles, we created the very last list. Now we're left with the "To Do" part of the "To Do List."

In the meantime, we headed out to the movies. When given the choice, I'm a "Sex in the City" type of movie gal, but that choice was not to be had this evening. Indiana Jones wasn't a choice either as it was sold out for the zillion hours following the 7:15 showing which we had hoped to see. So, we opted for Iron Man. These comic-book remakes are ones which Mike usually sees without me. But I have to say, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. Try it...you'll like it...

Wedding Shock Therapy

2008-05-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Weekend #2 of pre-wedding racing-moritorium began with a fabulous Fruitstand ride with me, Mike, Gianni and our friend Scott, a non-racing dad who is a killer climber. 70 miles and several margaritas later, I finished doing the table seatings for dinner at our reception. And with THAT friendly task out of the way, I curled into bed with The New Yorker. Once I'd finished perusing the cartoons and critique of American Idol, I settled into the deeper content of this article.

Apparently, there is an experimental therapy tecnique for soldiers returning from Iraq with post-tramautic stress. They are put in a virtual reality which forces them to relive their most terrifying moments over and over again. Its purpose is to help train their brains to disassociate emotion with these events so that over time, although they will remain memories for them, they will lose their painful emotional reactions.

Scroll ahead several hours when I am now in deep REM sleep. I had a reoccuring dream all night that I was undergoing this same virtual reality therapy to help me disassociate emotion from the wedding. I was being forced to cry all day long, over and over again, and have nevous butterflies for weeks on end in the hopes of not being a crying wreck the day of the wedding. I know, being emotional is a GOOD thing on your wedding day, but this was my dream (nightmare?). I woke up this morning and laughed with Mike about the whole thing.

Since I was a little girl, I have dreamt about getting married to Pachelbel's Cannon. But as my own wedding draws near, I have been nervous that there's too much emotional attachment for me and that I will cry my eyes out from the first notes.

So, after hearing of my nightmares last night, Mike offered the perfect solution: listen to Pachelbel's Cannon over and over again, while doing intervals, so that when I hear it on my wedding day, I can enjoy it, but not have as strong of an emotional reaction.

If you see me out riding this week, here's a sneak, peak of what I've got playing on my Ipod:
(Be sure to watch long enough for the dancing to begin).

Da life of Da teacher

2008-05-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Teachable moment:

Why does the heatwave bring out the helmet-less climbers? All day today, up every hill, there were tons of cyclists with their damn helmets clipped onto their stem. That must be a pretty sweet stem to want to protect it with your helmet. If you're hot, take off your jersey. You'll look like a tool, but at least your noggin is safe. I should bike with this poster in a front basket or something to prove that wearing a helmet is hott (yes, the 2 T type of hot).

Newsflash...I now fit into my wedding dress again. Actually, I'm not sure I ever didn't fit into it, but we needed 3 friends to get the buttons closed as they have a large shank. I'm replacing the large shanks with smaller shanks on Monday. Good thing we're only talking buttons here or this post could get dirty.

Ok, enough of the shank-speak.

I just learned that there was a crash in the Bs at the track on Tuesday. Had we gone (which we actually considered doing, even though the wedding race-moritorium was signed in chocolate), there's a good chance we both woud have been racing in the Bs. Me for a 3rd race for fitness and Mike as his real race For everyone who laughed at my strict racing moritorium, I am now here to say I WAS RIGHT...the 4 week pre-wedding racing moritorium was a brilliant idea. BUT, we are heading there next Friday the 23rd to drink beer and heckle. Can't wait.

I have learned at the track that readership of this blog is much greater than the comments imply.

In math-speak: R>C

So, for all you commentless readers, we're organizing long group rides both days this weekend since we can't race Kern, or track, or Modesto, or anything, for that matter. If you promise not to crash into either of us, we'd love to have you for a 4 hour jaunt from Cole Coffee in Oakland, leaving 9:30 on Sat. and another one at 10:30 on Sunday. Shoot us an email or leave a comment here so we know to wait for you. We'll do Diablo Saturday if this heatwave goes away.

Calorie Counting

2008-05-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

A bit of Thursday morning randomness.

After getting my weight lower than normal for San Dimas (no ice cream for 3 weeks prior...gasp), I have gained a few pounds over the last few weeks. It didn't really matter to me. Superweek is my next racing focus and the poundage doesn't matter as much there. And I like ice cream more than hill climbing anyway.

I then figured I'd better try my wedding dress on again as my final fitting was just before San Dimas and it was already crazy tight in the bodice. After her hot win at Cat's Hill, I figured if anyone could get those damn buttons to button it would be Eaken. So, we closed ourselves into the guest room and took a looksie at the dress.

It wouldn't button. Crap! I've got to lose those few pounds back and have another few ice cream free weeks.

So, I'm more aware of calories this month which brings me to this post. This is standardized testing week in the Berkeley schools, better known as Leave Every Poor Urban Child Behind.

I have a Costco-size bag of peanuts in my room so all my students can snack during the exams. Today, in less than 20 min., they consumed the entire bag. Hungry little buggers.

Catch this...
1 large bag of peanuts=
190 calories per serving
57 servings per bag
Eaten in 20min. amongst 15 students.

1) How many calories were eaten per student?
2) How many calories were eaten per student per second?

10 bonus points:
3) What percentage of a 12-year-old's daily caloric intake was consumed during this 20min. period.

And this was AFTER I had already passed out muffins and milk to everyone for breakfast.

And me? I'm sipping a peanut-free latte.

Last Attack Before The Wedding...

2008-05-07T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last night at the track was our last racing for a few weeks. We're trying our best to honor a pact we made many months ago to take a break from racing for the month before the wedding. I say trying because nights like last night make it really tough.

It was the first Tuesday night points race of the season. For those of you who don't race the track, a 'points race' is a fixed distance race (30-60 laps) with intermediate sprints every 5 or 10 laps. Riders score points for crossing the line in the top 4 spots (5-3-2-1). The rider with the most points at the end of the race is the winner. Points races are fun, full of tactics and furious flurries of action. Did I mention we both had a great time last night.

There were about 50 racers at the track, a big turnout for a Tuesday night. There were enough women and juniors to warrant their own. This is great for the women but pushes the rest of us into the A or B race.

Ali, Beth, Sabine and Erica ripped it up in both the women's races. It was fun to watch all the strategy and gamesmanship going on.

I, on the other hand, chose to race with the A's...ouch!!! 'Why the A's?' you ask. Well, last week we had a similar turnout. I tried the first scratch race with the A's but pulled up just before the final sprint. I was in 5th or 6th down the last stretch but could tell I didn't have the surplus power to come around anyone so bailed out of the melee. It felt like it was getting late and we didn't want to stay to the end so I immediately jumped into the second B's race and ended up winning out of a 3 man break. So this week it seemed like I should race the A race and set a goal of staying in the race to the bitter end.

Race 1 - 40 laps (8 miles), sprints every 5, average speed was reported at 27 mph! (my top speed was just over 32) Late in the race I jumped for one of the sprints and gained 1 point. As I drifted to the back to recover I didn't pay enough attention to who was in front of me. A lap later the front of the pack hit the gas, a gap formed and I couldn't go around and close it...game over. I chased for a while but conceded the lap and jumped back in the next time the leaders came around.

Race 2 - 60 laps, sprints every 5, average speed 25.2 (again my max was abou 32). I didn't intend to ride all of the second race. I didn't expect to be able to hang the whole time and getting home a few minutes early was appealing. Before the second race Mark P pulled me aside and recommended I just focus on staying on the lead lap. 'Don't do any work, let the other motors do the chasing.' I took his advice and did my best to sit in and hang on. After the 3rd or 4th sprint 3 riders went 'up the road' leaving the rest of us to fight for the 4th place scraps. I managed to take a couple of the points near the end of the race and stayed with the main 'chase' pack to the end.

Good fun!!! We'll surely be back after the wedding.

That's New...

2008-05-06T15:20:00.000-07:00

When you've lived in Berkeley as long as I have, you are rarely surprised or even impressed by the little vignettes life offers on a daily basis. When I first started at Cal it was the Dot Man and the Bubble Lady. I still see the Bubble Lady once in a while. Then it was the naked guy (I guess he recently passed away). The other week a new character appeared...the skateboarding-clapping-dancing guy in pink Dolphin Shorts and knee high socks. It's hard to stand out in Berkeley so this guy claps really loud to make sure people notice him.

I frequently see atypical things while riding as well. Recently, you may remember my comments on the naked drummer practicing on Pinehurst. The turkeys population in the East Bay hills has exploded over the last few years and it's hard to ride these days without dodging a few turkeys along the way.

Well, they other day I had a new first sighting. I was climbing tunnel road and rounded a corner to meet a woman walking three llamas on leash. As I passed the human in the group made calming statements to the four legged beasts. One stopped to give me a once over and I did the same as I glided past. While I checked out his brown fuzziness and it examined my blue dotted self our eyes met and I'm pretty sure we shared a thought...'What are you lookin at Bozo?'

Election HooHa

2008-05-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

Thought this was funny...

Clinton (Primary) Death Watch

Does Educated = Elite = Bad?

'What I've proposed is that the oil companies pay the gas tax instead of consumers and drivers this summer," Clinton said on ABC's This Week.

When asked to name an economist who supports her proposal, Clinton said, "I'm not going to put my lot in with economists. … We've got to get out of this mind-set where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans."

So if I'm reading this correctly, we shouldn't trust the (educated) experts opinion because they're elitist and don't understand the average U.S. Citizen. Can we apply the same logic to Senator Clinton herself? She as a law degree from Yale after all.

This last Sunday I really enjoyed this Opinion piece in the Chronicle.

Sorry I missed it...

2008-05-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Not really.

Today was my first visit to Cat's Hill. I went as a spectator. I'll blame my non-racing role on the rapidly filling Cat 4 fields but...I'm not sure I could handle all the suffering. I took the camera and caught some good suffer faces. You can see my current favorites here.

Tis me

2008-04-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Stand back, Ali is here. It has been so long since I've blogged that I'm not sure how to do anything anymore. I have no idea how to add links or photos and am worried that you will all find my posts too dull. After spending 2 car rides and 3 races with Beth last night, I'm inspired to be mildly humerous, as that's what impresses me most about Beth. Well, it's also her quads.

As she mentioned earlier in her blog, (ooh...figured out the link) Beth's bike fell off our roof rack last night. The story is only funny NOW, as we know the happy ending...bike=fine; beth=fine; beth's quads=better than fine. The only thing which kept it attached to our car was the clippy thing which goes through the back wheel. We were having a lovely chat about the bling bling Oakland Raiders office on Bay Farm Island and the fact that the whole damn island will wash into the bay during the next earthquake when...BAM!...Beth's bike comes swinging by my window, dangling before me like a worm on a fishing rod. "No worries, it's steel," was Beth's comment. Luckily all was well and Beth even trusted us to leave the bike on the rack for the rest of the ride. And her bike was clearly fine as she beat me in both races :) I guess like Beth said, good thing it was steel.

Track racing was super fun last night as we had enough women for a women's race. Yea. It might not be quite as fun on Sunday as Saturday night the Mints are having a bachlorette party for Ms. Panda and me. Yea for the party. Not so sure how the next day of racing will be, but I'll come with crazy stories from the party, for sure. Stay tuned.

Last night = lots of attacking = throbbing quads
late last night=pint of ice cream + american idol + throbbing quads
today = many big gear climbing intervals...up big hill in big ring...le ouch = throbbing quads.
only one solution...MEASURE QUADS.

over and out as I'm off to find the tape measure.

Leave it to (the) Madison

2008-04-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

When I stated my warm-up Saturday at the track, I realized I was in trouble. See, I had two flats...one in my right leg and one in my left (buh-dum-bum crash!). It was the end of a rest week so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. I had nothin. My Kerin was a joke. In the scratch race my legs had about as much pop as a bowl of Rice Crispies and the Win-n-out should have been a 'Go-sit-out' for me. But then came the Madison. I partnered with Rob M of Webcor (I warned him about the flats). Man was that fun!!!! Not too many teams on the track but enough to feel like a race. My legs came to life a little but I couldn't quite hold on at the end of the last lap and we finished second.

For those of you who don't know track racing, here's what a Madison looks like when the professionals do it. Our race bore only the most remote similarities ;).

Sometimes...

2008-04-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

When you've got your head down and you're driving hard....

you can miss some things in your own back yard.

So sometimes it's good to look away from your goal

to rest the legs...

and replenish the soul.

Tiger by the tail...

2008-04-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

I decided to try the Open M35+ race in Martinez this weekend. Wasn't sure I would be able to hang on, especially after racing with the E4 men earlier that morning. Ended up tail-gunning most of the race, trying my best to mind the gaps opening in front of me. A few of us were gapped by a mid-race crash but we managed to reconnect. I was happy to stay connected through the end of the race. Fun racing and smooth as olive oil through the turns but three crashes in the last three laps seems a bit excessive. I hope everyone heals up quickly.

Dear Floyd,

2008-04-01T20:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Floyd,

I have been a bike racer for the past several years and have always admired you from afar. In the back of my mind, I have always wanted to come visit your hometown, ride the routes which built your power, and get a sense of the sites you saw at the top of each climb. Luckily, my fiance, Mike, has similar desires. So, after finishing the San Dimas stage race, we packed up the car and headed south to spend a few days riding in Temecula.

This morning was very exciting...we found your 'favorite' route (according to bicycling.com), packed our pockets with bars, and headed out for a 75 mile loop up 6000ft. Mt Palomar. Never, in my many years of biking, have I choked fumes, been sworn at, or sideswiped as many times as I was today. How can you ride here?? It's a land of housing complexes, strip malls, and roads in beautiful places which have 1 lane, 60 mile speed limits, and no shoulders. 17.5 miles into the route, we turned around and headed home as we'd had one too many crazy-ass driver piss us off. I now see why you are driven to drink whiskey after a hard ride. I could have used a shot myself earlier this morning. The ultimate highlight was watching a cop pull 2 guys over. As he was handcuffing them, he found a gun. We overhead him asking what it was for. "Shooting squirrels," was the man's reply. Hah!

We ended up doing our intervals on an empty hill within a new housing development and rode home through the strip malls to avoid the shoulder-less roads. Lovely. If you'd like open roads where a post-ride drink entail a glass of wine on our deck overlooking the San Francisco Bay, you have an open invitation to come ride with us in Berkeley. Our days of riding in San Diego county have come to an end.

Fondly,

Ali

Coming Soon...

2008-03-31T11:06:00.000-07:00

San Dimas report coming soon but first we've got to catch up on a little sleep.

Now that was FUN!!!

2008-03-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

I think I made the right choice.

Many years ago, I started competitive swimming at the age of 7. I don't think I could actually swim until I was 8 but I was on the team when I was 7. At my first practice I think I almost drown. I was flailing, got a mouth full of water and one of the older kids had to push me over to the gutter. I was terrified but managed to stick with it. In second grade, when I was 8, I raced at my first swim meet. I don't remember the events or how many kids I swam against but I do remember I 'won' two 4th place ribbons. I was floating on cloud 9. I remember taking them to school and showing them to my class. I'm pretty sure my classmates were wondering why I was so happy. I mean, dude, you got 4th. But from that day on I was hooked.

Today, Ms. K and I headed down to Hellyer with our neighbor, DDT, for the first of the 'Get Ready For Summer' series. On the drive down there was a substantive discussion about what field I should race: the B field or the C field. Ms. K didn't want me to race in her field but I've only done two mass start races on the track, both points races. Also, the omnium today included two types of races that I had no clue how to race: the Keirin and the Miss & Out. I was worried the B's would be over my head but decided to defer to the promoter. At the track, our friendly promoter Rick, suggested I try the B's and said my lack of experience shouldn't get in the way. I also had an experienced teammate, RC, to lend advice so I decided to try the B field.

Keirin: The first race was the Keirin, a race I had little or no clue how to approach. I'd seen a few YouTube videos but didn't really have much of a clue about strategy. The moto wound us up to 31 mph and pulled off with 1.5 laps to go. I happily let myself sit pinned in the sprinter's lane all the way to the 3rd turn. I crossed the line last....no advancing for you. Hmmmm...maybe racing the B's wasn't such a good idea.

Scratch Race: This race I can grasp...it's like a short crit on the track. Webcor had a big contingent and I'd already experienced their team tactics earlier this year so I suspected they would be working together. We started and there were a few attacks in the first few laps but they didn't stick. Then Rob from Webcor got off the front with another rider from Kovarus and they created a big gap quickly. Webcor was at the front disrupting the chase. I found a little daylight and jumped to try to bridge. I made it...woohooo!!! We managed to stay away for 15 laps. The photo finish picked me second. Well, ok, maybe I can do this.

Miss & Out: The third race was another I wasn't really sure how to approach. Luckily, I was able to watch the C's race and figured out where I didn't want to be. Teamie RC told me we had to work to keep me in as long as possible and spent more than a few laps shielding me from the wind. As we got down to the final 8 I decided I was happier on the front. I lasted until the final 3 but didn't have the legs to contest the sprint so I had to be content with 3rd. Wait a second...I'm actually in this thing.

Points Race: The finale was the points race. As the day was running long, Rick decided to combine the A's and B's for a 40 lap points race with sprints every 10th lap. Oooo, I knew this was going to hurt but I thought if I could get just a few points I might improve my standing in the Omnium. I also thought my best bet was to get some points early as my legs were starting to complain about all I had asked of them earlier in the day. The attacks started almost from the whistle. I hoped I could get away with another Webcor rider and we might stay away until at least the first sprint. No such luck. I was out of the points for the first two sprints but so were the rest of the B's. Then there was a crash in turn 4. Luckily I had an out onto the apron. Three or Four other riders weren't so lucky. While most came away with scrapes there was at least one broken bone in the crowd. We restarted with 18 laps to go. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sneak into the points and at least one of the B's scored on the last sprint. Ouch...that one hurt.

Omnium: Well, I managed to eek out a 4th in the overall. It was a really fun day of racing and I learned a bunch. I think I might be hooked.

To Copper or not to Copper

2008-03-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

I'm signed up for Copperopolis but having second thougts. Actually, I've had them all along but they've been getting stronger. The practice races at the track are sounding more appealing. More sleep, less driving, flat pavement, no hills and some free time during the day.

Any thoughts?

Blown Away...

2008-03-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

Remember this poster? Ya, me too...makes me feel old. Anyway...

For the second time this season Mother Nature has added an obsticle to one of our classic bike race courses. Yesterday at Bariani the wind was howling. It made the winds at Snelling, earlier this year, seem like a gentle breeze. And like the Snelling race, once dropped many a rider packed it in early rather than grind out the miles alone.

I was a little eager to start the suffering and wasted some valuable energy early. After getting gapped right after the climb, it was a long slog to finally reconnect with the main pack. The second time it happened I knew I wouldn't reconnect. I considered calling it a day but decided to grind out another lap. I fell in with some other stragglers and we raced well together in all shapes of rotating pace lines. Once I was 'racing' again all thoughts of stopping vanished. Over the course of the next few laps we caught other cast offs, some latched on, others fell off.

In the end I finished 24th. It was brutal and fun...in a twisted, biker racer kind of way.

For you data junkies out there, my power output was almost identical to Snelling but the race was 30 minutes longer. 2300 Kcals burned in 2.5 hours of racing.

Check it out...

2008-03-14T15:39:00.000-07:00

Just got this from a teammate.

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

Cuz...

2008-03-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

You know... it's Pi Day.

Anyway, last weekend we did a little bike racing. At some point during my first race someone decided I was 'Uninhibited'. Not sure if it was me riding my bike or my itsy-bitsy jersey riding up my back that earned me this distinction but either way, I'm going to enjoy the spoils.

Sadness

2008-03-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

We had many little stories to share from Saturday's shenanigans but in light of the tragedy that struck the NorCal cycling this last weekend they all seem insignificant. While we didn't know either of these cyclists well we had raced with each of them often over the last few weeks and admired their skill, fitness and humor. Just Saturday, while racing, Matt rode next to me and gave a good natured heckle about the fit of my kit. It's still hard to grasp that a day later he was gone.

While I struggle to come to grips the randomness and the senselessness of Sunday's events I find myself wanting to supplant my sadness with anger. Like many of us, it's easier for me to be angry than sad. But in searching for someone to blame I find only victims - the riders, their close friends and families, the cycling community at large and yes, even the driver. And without a focal point for my anger I'm left to face the sadness.

Peace and be safe.

Week to week...

2008-03-03T10:30:00.000-08:00

Same roads, two radically different races.

Last week the wind was blowing, clouds threatening rain but the racing was a blast. DBC put their boys on the front and drove the pace all day long. Working in pairs, the men in orange would pull our little pack through the wind until they blew and had us moving at a pretty good clip. By the end there were only 15 of us left. The data showed a 2.5 hour race at what is typically a hard crit effort. I was destroyed but enjoyed every minute of it.

Yesterday was back to negative racing. The team in yellow and the team in red had superior numbers, enough in fact to try a couple different approaches to winning the race. Alas, they both had their minds set on the bunch gallop at the end so 70 of us went into the last turn together. Sure, there were a few attacks along the way. Attempts by other teams to make things interesting but team tactics are clearly not the strong suit of the Cat 4's. I guess when you're doing hypoxic math 2 in 70 odds is better than 1 in 5.

As for me, I didn't fight hard enough for position on the last significant hill. I watched the daredevils charge down the other side suspecting they wouldn't make the corner. My suspicions were confirmed as I rounded the corner and found riderless bikes in the road. I came to a complete stop and then chased my ass off to try and catch the pack. At the base of the 'feed zone' kicker I caught the back of the pack and then drove hard to get around those who were loosing contact with the business end of the race. I caught the back of the lead group right as the front was cresting the hill...another pack finish. After reviewing the data I have to agree...it was a nice day for an easy group ride.

World Gone Crazy...

2008-02-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

When it seems the world's gone crazy...

The White House is occupied by cowBoys who like to play with guns.

The former first couple show their true political spots.

The far right panders to the basest American fears...and it works.

Indecision among leaders leads to chaos...locally and globally.

You learn 1 out of every 100 American adults is incarcerated...more if their skin is brown.

Known blind spots in some reveal hidden facets of others.

When it feels on the verge of being out of control it's time to close the door, unplug the phone, shoot your TV, sit in the sun and take a deep breath (or reach for the Thin Mints).

Ooph..what a weekend

2008-02-25T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's going to take me a couple of days to recover from this one.

Saturday was the unofficial opening to the Road Racing season and like most years, well attended in all fields. The wind turned what is normally a rude awakening to the reality of NorCal road racing into a major suffer fest that none will soon forget. As I got ready to race the reports were trickling in from the first wave of races...brutal pace and no place to hide. Many had packed it in early, unable to hang on or close gaps opened by others who couldn't hang on. The message was clear...stay near the front and race smart. I managed to stay with the front group to the end but had no kick left in my legs for a sprint. Thanks to DBC for keeping the pace fast and the racing interesting.

Sunday was the Five Course Potluck Wine Pairing Birthday Dinner. We ended up with a great menu: Lentil soup, lamb tagine w/Asparagus, mixed green salad pears and raisins, an awesome cheese course and pear-puff pastry tartlets w/pomegranate syrup. Wow, everyone went all out... the food and wine were awesome.

Unfortunately, today the piper needs payment.

Thanks to A.T. for the great photos.

PS GS cookies arrived this weekend...deliveries will be made soon.

Celebrity Quiz

2008-02-20T19:50:00.000-08:00

This guys was standing with Bjarne Riis during the awards Monday. Ali and I feel like we should know who he is but can't figure it out. We're looking for a little help from the fellow bike nerds out there. Who is this guy?

ToC of the Town

2008-02-19T16:01:00.000-08:00

We spent this last weekend in Santa Rosa, connecting with old friends, making some new ones, riding our chamois raw, racing a little and spectating a bunch. Yesterday we watched some of the minty gals mix it up with the rest of the women's powerhouse field...great fun! More snaps of the yesterday’s festivities in the normal spot.

Feline Frenzy!!!!

2008-02-14T21:35:00.000-08:00

At the end of my ride today I saw a pride of crazy Vanderkittens on the other side of the road. It was a black and pink plaid train screaming down the hill. "Where was this sighting?" cycling fans ask. Wildcat Canyon! Go figure.

School Bus of the Future?

2008-02-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

Rounded the corner this morning to see a neighbor takin the kiddies out for a spin. Maybe on the way to school or just down to the corner store for some cheerios. Gotta say it beats the double wide Burley.

It's Started

2008-02-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

As you might have guessed from the previous post, we've started racing! New photos are posted if you follow the link on the right.

Nice Day At The Track

2008-02-09T21:20:00.000-08:00

More photos soon.

Thanks to Guest Photographer Xbunny!

Recovery Week

2008-02-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

It always seems to take longer than it should to feel the recovery. By the end of last week I was thrashed. Two of the longest and hardest training weeks of my short career left me feeling like one of those skunk pancakes I've seen so many of lately.

Tuesday and Wednesday felt horrible.

Today started to feel a little better. (I'm sure seeing the sun had something to do with it.)

Let's hope my legs wake up completely for this weekend cuz I'm there are some races out there and it doesn't look like the weather is going to bail me out.

But No Matter What...

2008-02-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

get out and vote. While the system may not work perfectly all the time, it definitely can't work if we don't vote.

In the mean time, here's a little ditty that might inspire you to get out there and be heard.

Peace!

Break-it-downnnn

2008-01-31T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what's in your jersey pocket or recovery snack. Leave it to Wired to fill you in.

I guess it's not a surprise that training food does not equal health food.

58 pounds of high fructose corn syrup?!!!

Rain...

2008-01-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

I don't mind the actual riding in the rain. Sure you can get a little cold if you don't have the right gear. But as long as you can avoid the major flood waters or the occasional mud slide it isn't really that bad.

At least until you get home. Then comes the part I could do without. The extra bike cleaning, the grime and grit that finds it way into everything and the piles of wet clothes.

I'm sure there are some cross studs reading this and thinking 'you road weenie'. And while that may be true, in my mind there's a difference between racing in the dirt once a week and riding in the rain day in and day out. Riding in the mud once in a while actually sounds fun (although I have yet to make time to get out and try it) but dealing with the detritus of daily rides in the rain can grate on you.

Saw a few hard cores out there today. The ride back from Danville with the YellowBug made time pass a little faster.

Ahhh, team camp...

2008-01-27T22:33:00.001-08:00

As we drove toward Petaluma Friday night, I had some serious doubts camp was going to come together at all. Highway 101 was closed in Novato due to flooding. We found a back route only to find every creek in Petaluma had jumped it's banks. Main roads were closed, the KOA seemed cut off from town and the forecast called for rain all weekend. We had packed the trainers in case we were stuck inside but they wouldn't do us much good if we couldn't even get to Kamp. Thanks to the Google GPS/Maps we did another back roads tour requiring only three crossings of rushing water and got to our destination.

We arrived to find a few brave souls who had also found their way to camp. As the evening passed more and more teammates arrived but the rain didn't stop and the reports of flooding seemed to be getting worse. More than a few decided to try their luck the next morning...perhaps the wiser course of action.

Amazingly the weather prognosticators were wrong. Saturday morning we woke to grey but dry skies. The majortiy of our teammates had found their way to camp and we were ready to roll. Unfortuantely, not all the roads were ready for us. Many lakes stood where only a day before a hidden culvert carried an unnoticed stream. Luckily, one of our new teammates knows the area well and navigated us around most of the serious floods.

Saturday turned out to be an epic day for me on the bike. I decided to hang on the tails of some of the fast boys and girls for a long steady ride. By the end of the day 7 of us had clicked off 94 miles and never felt a drop of rain. The best part was we only rode a third of the time on roads wider than one lane (thanks Mitch). Lucky for me I didn't bonk until dinner time ;).

Today I opted to ride with the group that would tackle the scenic Coleman Valley Loop. The day started out sunny and beautiful. Most of the new lakes had vanished as quickly as they had appeard and it promised to be another epic day. The ride out to the base of Coleman Valley was beautiful. By the time we reached the summit the weather had started to turn. More importantly, some of the legs in the group were showing the effects of two long days pushing the pedals. When we regrouped in Occidental some tanks reached empty just as the rain started. In order to get everyone home as quickly as possible we formed a big train, put our heads down and ground out the ride home. I took some looooong pulls at the front of that train, trying to get us home quickly without unhitching everyone. I did my best to regulate the speed in order to minimize the (speed) 'up' and (slow) 'down' requests coming from those behind me. Perhaps my favorite memory of the day is the 'up' request as I pushed hard into a stiff headwind. After a quick glance at my power meter all I could muster was a little chuckle. Luckily Ali was right behind me to interpret for the rest of the group. I'm happy to say we all made it, cold, wet and hungry but we all made it.

So, at my first team camp I covered 170 miles during 10 hours in the saddle. More importantly, I learned that I have great teammates who work well together both on and off the bike and have fun in the process.

Huh?

2008-01-25T18:30:00.000-08:00

ROCK HILL, South Carolina (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Clinton, in an about-face, said on Friday she wants the Democratic Party delegates in two states that were barred by the national party to be reinstated and counted in the race to determine the party's U.S. presidential nominee.
...
Because Michigan and Florida violated the rules, all the major Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign there before their primaries.

Clinton said she did not think she was violating that agreement.

You can read more here. I guess "It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

Billary needs to rethink this one.

Pedaling Square-waves...

2008-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Or trying anyway.

Nothing like a little crit practice in the garage to warm you up on a cold rainy day.

By this morning I'd had enough of the garage so I headed out on the road. The Mighty Fine HK and I did a little jaunt through the east bay burbs. Tried to dodge rain drops, soccer moms and a few older folks on their way to the store. Despite a few close calls we made it home safe and neither of us melted in the rain.

Winterbike

2008-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods but it's been cold here in Bezerkeley the last few days. I'm sure some of you out there are up to your chamois in snow but you won't get any sympathy from me. In your neck of the woods it comes with the territory (trust me I know). Over here in the East Bay we've grown accustomed to our short thermometer, the Bay normally does a great job of modulating our temperatures. But every once in a while the jet stream does a somersault and we get a cold blast from the north.

A little over a week ago we made a quick trip to the burbs of the Windy City. While walking around town we saw a few cyclists braving the elements. I remember noting that I couldn't ride in that cold. It was the kind of cold that just starts to give you that crackly sinus feeling and hurt your lungs when you breath hard. Little did I know that Mother Nature would send us our own little taste of the cold.

And yet I can't help notice that I've become a little 'soft' where the weather's concerned. Growing up in the Midwest you got used to cold winters with bitter, biting winds blowing across frozen ground. When the temperatures peeked above 40 we would shed our winter coats and play soccer in Willow Creek Park. Now 40 degree temps have me looking for another layer. I guess the bloods gotten thin.

So while we wait for these Northern lows to pass through I'll do my riding in the garage.

PS Thanks to big sis and the folks at Iowa City Bike Library for orchestrating the t-shirt delivery...it's my new fave.

Gone Postal

2008-01-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

Over the holidays we received this notice in the mail. It took me a while to figure out what it was. At first I thought they were warning me I had a dangerous dog. The warning notes the dog is in the back yard and I wondered why the postman was in the back yard when the mail box is at the front door. Then I realized that it wasn't supposed to be delivered, it's a warning card for the mail carriers.

I wondered who could possibly think our dog is 'Dangerous'. Those of you who've met our dog know she's the biggest goof on the planet. Her only threat to humans is to their knees as she tries to get closer to them for a better back or belly rub. Sure she's big but if you know even rudimentary 'dog speak' you immediately see that 'threatening' isn't in her vocabulary.

Then I remembered our mail carrier from a couple of years ago. The poor guy was terrified of dogs (rumor had it he was bit once). He refused to deliver mail to our neighbors for a while because their dog barked at him through the fence. (Her distaste for the carrier may have had something to do with the fact that he maced her through the fence). Anyway, one day I was taking Goofball for a walk and let her out the door without a leash. Unfortunately it was the exact moment the carrier was walking up the driveway. Goofball bounded down the stairs with her normal 'lets play' air about her but the poor guy just about dropped a load on the spot. He started to reach for his mace and yelled at me. I apologized and told Goofball to lie down. I was a little worried about the repercussions but after a few days thought it must have blown over.

Little did I know he was keeping records on me. Makes me wonder what other mail carrier warning cards there are out there.

Something is happening...

2008-01-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

Inspiring!

Where o' Where has our Vanderblog gone...

2008-01-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

(another trip in the wayback machine...gotta get this out of my head before I forget)

Where o' Where has our Vanderblog gone...
Where o' Where can it be?

There's no need to fear! Vanderblog is here!

When cyclists from both far and near
search for prose true and sincere
their browsers to one place do steer
and at the words they cheer or jeer
it's Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog!

Always posting, make's me wonder
what kind of contract is he under?
Vanderblog. Vanderblog!

when in this world the headlines read
of those who break the sportsmen's creed
and dope or cheat to gain some speed
he'll call them out with blinding speed
it's Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog!

Always posting, make's me wonder
what kind of contract is he under?
Vanderblog. Vanderblog!

So if while racing you happen to hear
a heckle or cheer that's fueled by beer
be careful not to frown or sneer
cuz on that blog it will appear
it's Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog! Vanderblog!

Always posting, make's me wonder
what kind of contract is he under?
Vaderblog. Vanderblog!

Ok, he's not a Superhero but he's been known to dress like one!

(Now it's your turn...add another verse! Accoustically challenged...grab a bowl of Cheerios and listen to the original here! )

The Sky line is Falling!!!

2008-01-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I did one of my standard rides that circumnavigates Redwood Park in the East Bay Hills. I couldn't help noticing all the enormous blue tarps covering the hills. It looked a bit like a Christo project gone horribly wrong (one might argue if any go right...but that's a subject for another post). While climbing Skyline Blvd. I passed a minimum of 5 slides in various states of repair. The most recent started this weekend and gets press because it is threatening the homes below and the new home of Attorney General Moonbeam. However, the largest slide has been sitting idle for several months and it's hard for me to imagine a reasonable method of repair.

This summer a massive section of hill slid, undercutting the road, pulling down the guard rail, fire hydrants and a large light pole. Many of these items still dangle over the new canyon floor. As the slide has reduced the road to one lane one can assume it must be fixed at some point it clearly isn't happening soon. Filling this slide would be a Herculean task. Cutting further into the hill might compromise the stability of the hill and homes above. Stuck between two equally distasteful options, the one lane road sits there, idle.

Other slides along Skyline get more attention due to their threat to homes and roads below but everywhere there are cracks hinting at Skylines inevitable movement 'down canyon'.

After turning off Skyline, I descended Pinehurst, passing several other slides that sit ignored. This particular section of road sits on the county line, the proverbial 'ugly step child' of Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. Several sections are reduced to one lane. Permanently installed stop signs indicate bureaucrats surrender to the forces of entropy.

While the road conditions along the ridge deteriorate, making me long for the smooth pavement of the Veneto in Italy, this is still a classic East Bay ride that I love. Once off the ridge the route takes you through the town of Canyon which consists of a Post Office and two room school house. As the name implies, you ride along the base of a redwood, fern and moss filled canyon that feels like a trip through Middle Earth. Canyon is always a few degrees cooler than the ridge. In the summer this can be a welcome relief from the heat. While dodging clouds of ladybugs, riders enjoy the shade of the giant redwoods. In the winter the ride is more like spelunking. At this time of year the sunlight doesn't quite reach the valley floor, everything remains damp, the green moss seems to glow and lichens extend their reach on the oak bark. And while you may occasionally see a Yellow Bug you will most surely see some yellow slugs. Looking up, you can see the sunlight grazing the tops of the trees and you long if it to reach down and warm your bones.

Soon enough you climb out of the canyon again, back to the buzz of 'civilization' and the constant struggle to keep Skyline Blvd. at the top of the hill.

Blogstipation...

2008-01-04T16:19:00.000-08:00

a condition of the blog in which the subject matter is dry and terse and entries are difficult and infrequent.

Blogstipation can be caused by:

1. A chronic lack of creativity.
2. A lack of thought provoking substance in your intellectual diet.
3. An irregular or imbalanced schedule of life activities.

While some sites periodically suffer temporary blogstipation as a result of a temporary constriction of free time they can usually be remedied by a return to a healthy, normal lifestyle. Other sites seem to suffer from chronic blogstipation. While in some cases, chronic blogstipation is benign this condition can be an indication of a more serious problem known as 'blogger burnout'. While blogger burnout is rare, as we've seen recently, it can happen to even the most prolific of bloggers. So if you find posting increasingly difficult, seek immediate exptert advice.

Seasonal blogstipation is quite common. Many blogs suffer a temporary slowdown during the holiday season due the a change in diet. Cycling blogs in particular seem to suffer acute cases of blogstipation in the off season.

Around here we've found that Holidays, increased saddle time and event planning have led to some serious blogstipation. The Holidays are over and some of the other contributing factors should soon be alleviated, relieving this uncomfortable condition.

What are your remedies for blogstipation?

Leaf Peeping...

2007-12-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sometimes...when the conditions are just right...we get some fall color here in Berkeley.

Jackass Justice

2007-12-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

First, on an unrelated topic, I apologize for my lack of blogyness over the last...well since school started back before Labor Day weekend. I have been sucked into teacher-world and haven't posted on our blog or commented on your blogs since. But I'm back!

This afternoon, while riding San Pablo 'Dammit there's a lot of crazy traffic' Road, I almost had an encounter with one of those jackass drivers. This road has plenty of them as the map to your right is entitled, "I-80 alternative route" and displays my biking road in bright yellow.

I was making a U turn to begin an interval and as I turned, the car coming towards me revved it's engine and came flying by...basically being a total prick.

Moments later, a cop flew past me and pulled him over for speeding. I waved as I rode by.

I can ride for miles and miles...

2007-12-03T14:33:00.001-08:00

and the last one on a Clif Bar wrapper.

While the Teach was rubbin elbows with other passionate mathies I got out for a long ride on Saturday. Started off through the rarefied neighborhoods of 17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach and Carmel. I've flogged a few golf balls in my day and while I can think of a better way to spend five hours, riding between a hand manicured fairway and the crashing surf has to be pretty close to the perfect ride. After that little slice of paradise I turned inland and rode a few clicks into the Carmel Valley. When the shoulder started to shrink and the traffic began to surge I turned up and hopped over to the Salinas Valley. An hour or so through the lettuce fields and back along the beach path and I'd put in a sweet 70.

Sunday we met with two other bike bloggers and did a 55 mile spin around Gilroy. Despite some threatening weather and a couple of crazy drivers we had a wonderful ride.

After 125 miles I was dreaming of chips and beer. While we made our plan to head to some 'Fresh Mex' I managed to find a gargantuan piece of glass that sliced my rear tired to the bone (no easy feat considering I was riding tough winter tires). We managed to reinforce the tire with my empty Clif Bar wrapper and make it back for some much needed Suds and Salsa.

Maybe this is it...

2007-11-28T22:20:00.000-08:00

Something seems really stale around here. I thought it was the piles of laundry we keep stepping over but that wasn't it. Then I found a bag of persimmons I'd left in the car but that wasn't it. The garden needs some work but that'll have to wait for another day. Then I noticed our last post date...maybe a new post will do the trick.

So, if you haven't figured it out by now we're still here. In addition to logging big miles on the bike we've been hosting TurkeyDay and trying to stay on top of the nuptual party planning. All's going well but blogging has slid to the bottom of the priority list.

We've been riding...a bunch. It's that time of year when we log long miles on short days, in the dark, in the rain, in the cold. Can't let a little weather stop you, just get out and ride.

We did sneak in a session at the track. We spent a Sunday gettin schooled on the ins and outs of the intermediate training sessions. A patient group of folks tolerated our rookie maneuvers. Hopefully we won't be quite as spazzy next time.

We hosted our first Thanksgiving. I've read that some of you out there don't like to cook. That's not the case around this house. We did all the usual stuff but each with a little twist. Given it was Ms. A's first Thanksgiving away from the Windy City clan (ever) we had to do it up right. I think we got a big thumbs up.

For this coming weekend it turns out there's a gathering of math geeks in Asilomar...and, while I'm qualified to attend (on the geek front anyway) I'm going to tag along but spend my days riding and taking pictures. So, if you see a guy in dots riding hard while doing his darndest to make it look effortless be sure to wave and I'll wave back.

Just a little distracted...

2007-11-13T16:51:00.000-08:00

We're already working on the grand puzzle of next summer's calendar. When you've got a lot of pieces to fit together you gotta start early.

A couple of weeks ago Ali went to the track. She hasn't told you about it but she NARROWLY missed a unfortunate pile up at the end of the session. She managed to keep it together (yay!) but lost a spoke in the process. That's a tad too close for comfort.

We're hoping to spend some time at the track the next few weekends so I've got to get working on some wheels.

(and keep you eyes peeled cuz the fem-dots might be mixin it up at the track next season...ya baby!).