No Racing This Weekend

I'm flying to Oakland for Grandma's memorial tomorrow afternoon. I unfortunately have to miss the Icebreaker Criterium tomorrow and Piece of Cake on Sunday. I gotta let someone else win that one this year. The boys are racing though. HIGH FIVE!

That's How I Roll



If you have never experienced the magic of a foam roller, you're totally missing out. Some magic hurts. Hurts real bad. A foam roller is used against the users own body weight, to "roll out" sore muscles. It has the same effect as a massage. This white tube just might save my knees this year.

Brian, Emily, and I took a class at Therapeutic Associates last night, where we we shown all the positions for using the roller. It was painful. Instead of saying. "Is everyone comfortable with that position?" Dave would joke, "Is everyone uncomfortable with that position?" If it hurts... it's working. But with regular use, it doesn't hurt as much and all is well and happy with my legs... pretty much.

Dave said to name our foam roller, since we'd build such a close relationship with it. I think I"ll call her Athena. Here are some photos of Athena in her new home.

A little shy still...












Watching a little news, wondering about the weather forecast.

New Teammates Emerging

So, the Rubicon Clan is growing. Familiar faces, Aaron and Kirk are here now. Aaron arrived about a week ago, but I just saw him last night. Kirk... they found him at a race in Cali and decided to bring the boy home. Welcome back guys. New teammate, Matt got here today. He was pretty tired when I went over to meet him and watch American Idol (Go Melinda). Tomorrow, Bradley lands in the afternoon. He's staying with me. Maybe he'll get inspired to paint that bedroom. It's time for the nursery turquoise to go. Not sure when Adam gets here, but when he does, the stable will be full.

Oh, check out the new guestbook (look to the right) and hit counter. New bloggy stuff fun.

Mason Lake #3 and Banana Bonanza



Another monsoon greeted us this week. I was happy at the start to see about 16-18 riders. The first lap was pretty easy- not too many attacks. The rain was... wet. A little into the second lap, we were just cresting an elevation gain (not really a hill), Beth launch a meaningful attack and took 2-3 girls with her. I was sitting near the back a little irritated that we were coasting down the hill. I hang out on the left side and waited for a rider to... move and then took off after the little break away. I took 3-4 riders with me. We worked together, losing a couple along the way, until we were just 3. We worked to catch up with Beth and Suz. Then the 5 of us got into a rotating pace line rhythm. I had to skip a couple of pulls in the beginning to recover, but after that we all did equal work.


Yey, so I was in a break of 5. At the end of that lap, we already had 2 minutes lead. we weren't really hammering, but I knew that with one rider from each team represented in the break, the group wasn't going to be too ambitious to catch us. They probably could've though.

In the beginning of the last lap, Suz opened up a gap out of turn one onto the highway. Beth stayed with her, but the other 3 of us stayed together. It was a little harder being only 3, instead of the 5.

Rolling into the finish, I was the first one down the big hill (go figure). I chilled out on the pace, not going any faster than I wanted. I could see Lisa out out of my right corner. I finally just decided to go. Lisa surged, but I out-rolled her. However, the other rider, a Ti-Cycles girl, came on the inside of Lisa and got me at the line. It was a good move on her part. So, I got 4th in that race. I wound up getting 2nd in the series, behind Beth.




The next day....
On Sunday I drove to Hagg Lake for more abuse. I got tired just walking to registration. It wasn't going to be a fabulous day. I did alright for the first 2 laps. I wasn't bogged down by any one thing. I went up hill just fine and down hill even finer. We had a pretty big group for Banana Blizzard- about 20 racers. Cruising into lap 3, I started to hurt. Just little changes in pace were getting to me. I popped off the back and never got back on. I actually waved Lynn, the official around me. "I'm done!" She smiled and drove on.

After the race, Martha informed me that about a mile after that happened, that they were neautralized for a long time and that the last lap was pretty mellow. Great. Oh well. I've never claimed to be a stage racer.

All in all it was a good weekend. I feel liek I'm getting into great shape and my new bike is awesome.

A Wet Mason Lake

The first Mason Lake race last week wasn't worth writing about.

The second one, yesterday, was a little more entertaining. Let's start with the rain. It was hecka wet. My tooties were soaked in the first few miles. There were moments when it seemed to let up, but it was just a tease. As soon as you thought you could actually ride directly behind someone without getting water up your nose... the drops would start coming down again. I got into a fight with my glasses- fogged, so I pulled them down on my nose, but then I'd get splashed in my eyes, so I'd push them back up, and couldn't see, so I'd have to wiped them with my sogged glove. Late in the race, someone commented that I had foam coming out of my shorts chamois. Huh? Guess there was some soap in there. "What? someone else answered... don't you have self-cleaning shorts? They're the newest rage."

So, about the race. I thought we'd go easy for a bit, but it wasn't long before this woman, Beth started attacking. It felt like a crit, there was so much attacking. She did most of it, while a few of us did most of the chasing. Luckily, Lolita was much responsive. She must like the rain. My only bike issue was a hop in my rear wheel- must be out of true or a tire thing. But anyway, there was a lot of action, between 2 teams, and two loners- me and another woman. She did lots of pulling too.

At one point, Beth took off. she got a quite a gap. Her teammates did a pretty nice block, but I squeaked by on the left side, avoiding center line) and bridged, taking another strong rider with me. We worked together to get to her. The group stayed put. Yey, I was in the break, but also a little pissed that the group didn't come up. A minute later, I was spent. I yelled to them to go I rejoined the group for our last little more than a lap.

With the two active attackers out on their own- one from each of the two teams, the rest of the race was at an easy pace-just fast enough to discourage anyone from attempting another breakaway- just tempo.

There is a red, white and green sign to look like the Italian flag about 2K from the finish. At this point, I was somewhere at the end of the pack. Everyone was pretty aggressive about keeping on the wheel they had. I drifted up to the front, so I could be first down the big hill, then up the little hump, and a little more before the last left turn. I was still leading, along with another rider who came up on my right side with her teammate. I decided to go... much too early. Whoever was behind me, came around, I got 3rd in field sprint. The finish was exactly like last years, with 2 in the breakaway (1st and 2nd), so I was 5th overall.

I'm going to an easy 2 hour DRY ride this afternoon.

I Am Here! As Told By Baby Lolita....

Some people refer to Orbea's new ride as hot. Yes, I am. I am the new Orca, recently conceived for my owner, Heather. Here is my story.

It began the day Logan, Dean, and Mom (Heather) were unpacking me and my siblings. First there was Orca- 51. That was Richard's baby. Then, our big brother, Orca 60, belonging to new rider, Dan. Finally it was my time to see the light. I was one of 4 Orca-57 to shed our foam protection.

I was a bit lonely at first. Mom gave me some cool white water bottle cages, but mostly, I just watched on the couch.




Finally, it was my turn on the stand! They say it takes a village to raise a baby. First, Logan, I think started on the basics. Later that afternoon, Dan strung my cables, and put on my shiny new chain. But then my siblings hopped on the van for a trip to California to show off in a race.

The next day, Dean gave my wheels some gears, and adjusted shifting.

Thursday night, mom took me to my new crib. It's nice here. Many people came to visit me and do intervals in mom's garage. Mom spent most of the time getting me adjusted just for her. Later that night, Brian fixed my sticky brakes.

Human babies have belly buttons. On Friday I got to lose mine when the nice man at the bike shop cut my steer tube.

When I got home from my first ride, mom's roommate asked me what my name was, since I couldn't go by Orca-57a my whole life. Mom thought of my plight. She considered how many men had their hands all over me, how I was very pretty at first glance, but up close had flaws, such as borrowed brakes and a substitute front derailleur. And after a short trip around the neighborhood, it was discovered that I could be ridden hard and fast. I had moves like no other. My characteristics matched that of an exotic dancer.

It was because of these unique characteristics that I earned the name Lolita, the first stripper name Mom thought of.

March 1st
Late Start

The Farmer's Almanac was right. I never imagined that we'd really have snow at the end of February, but yesterday we had intermittent snow globe action outside the classroom window and this morning, a late start. I wonder what the raods are like in the Olympic penninsula where Saturday's race is...?