Why I LOVE the Swimmins #2
September 18th, 2009 / No Comments »
Waves
September 18th, 2009 / No Comments »
Okay, totally corny, but the first time I saw the ocean, I cried.
And I don’t cry.
I was about 11 years old. We had just moved to Seaside from Munich. For whatever strange reason, we landed in NYC and drove across the country. I don’t remember much from the back seat of that Dodge Polara. Just a bunch of cornfields and nothingness and Holiday Inns.
But I do remember very clearly the first time we drove down Highway 1 and the Pacific Ocean came into view.
I remember it was sparkly. And it stretched to forever. And it was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. And when I realized that I was going to be living near it, I was so overwhelmed that I started to cry.
To this day I have no idea where those feelings came from. I don’t believe in past lives or anything, but something inside my little 11 year old soul felt like it was coming home.
Not Going Gentle
August 6th, 2009 / No Comments »
~
I have been following Fat Cyclist’s blog for several years now. He has an honest, refreshing, self deprecating and joyful way of writing about his passion for mountain biking that make his blog a fun read.
Almost two year’s ago, his wife’s breast cancer came back.
Elden continued to write, but more and more often, the stories were about his wife’s fight. They were written with the same easy style and candor, except this time the words were not for the love for his bike, but the love for his wife and the concern for his children.
And we knew when he was overwhelmed, frustrated, relieved, and angry.
I screamed “fuck cancer!” with him.
I cried.
I donated.
Somehow, across the country, I and many more like me were touched by Elden’s passion.
Yesterday night, Susan died.
Yesterday night, I giggled like a 6 year old down some sweet illegal singletrack.
Win, Susan.
Why I Love the Swimmins #1
August 5th, 2009 / 1 Comment »
Come on! It does not get any cuter than this! Seriously.
Filmed just a few hundred feet offshore from Cowell’s Beach in Santa Cruz. These guys were mating and could have cared less about anything else….
Jens Voigt Wants to Kiss Me
July 22nd, 2009 / 6 Comments »
When Jens Voigt crashed in yesterday’s tour stage, there was a collective gasp heard on the twittering and facebooking streams. OH NO Jens Crashed!!! No, not JENS!!
When I visited the Davis stop of the Tour of California this winter, I saw a big crowd of people over by what I thought was the Rock Racing bus. So, I wandered over to see what all the fuss was about. Well, the fuss was not about Rock Racing at all, it was for the Saxo Bank bus. Ahh, so the fuss is about the current world champ, Fabian Cancellara (Fabian wants to kiss me too by the way). But no. It was when Jens Voigt walked out and the crowd went wild (I only went a little wild, screaming something ridiculous in German to him) that I realized who the real rock star was.
And it struck me. Here in the US, where cycling is a niche sport and Lance fans are the norm, there was a crowd of fans standing in the rain outside a nondescript bus waiting for a German rider who doesn’t win the big tours.
So what was the allure? Why do we love Jens?
He’s a tough guy and lots of us fans love the tough guy. Like we used to love Johan Museeuw before he made his drug use more obvious than his hair plugs. But its something more than just being the tough guy.
Its that something inside him that makes him go hard in the front just because he can. That makes him attack just because it feels good. To make every single person in the peloton wince in pain, and then smile and giggle after the race.
I think we all just get the feeling that win, lose, job, doping scandals, television and popularity aside, he finds great joy in simply racing his bike.
Mwah!
Don’t you DARE tell anyone
July 17th, 2009 / 8 Comments »
There is that moment when deer-eyed confusion gives way to narrow-eyed understanding.
And that moment is almost overwhelming in its ability to shatter everything you thought you knew while simultaneously answering all your questions.
But if you hang on tight to who you are, there is peace on the other side.
Where U been?
July 7th, 2009 / 5 Comments »
I had a race report written up.
My intention was to write something inspirational, because I really was inspired. However, I don’t write that stuff so well. It came off all schlocky, self involved, and whiny. And I deleted it. Suffice it to know that the XTerra was one of the hardest races for me to finish, even though it was only 2 hours and some change. And the fact that I drove up there and did it and finished, makes me feel pretty damn pleased with myself. We’ll just leave that at that for now.
So, I must revert to what I know how to write about. Men racing bicycles.
What the hell is going on at the tour right now? I love it. The women are in Italy , facing long transfers, cramped hotels and racing in your face aggressively, and the men are twittering around the roads of France in Rock Star buses racing passive agressively.
To start it off, Lance is late for the start because he is pal-ing around with movie stars. I’m sure the French love a snub like that. Especially dressed like this.
Then, High Road gets their panties in a bunch because no one will help out the strongest sprint team. And instead of taking their namesake, they give a screw you to the peloton and spit out all of the GC contenders except for Lance.
And with his teammate and team leader, Contador, caught in the group behind, what does Lance do? He motions for the two teammates who did make the split with him, to get to the front and drill it. Oh, hell yeah. This is going to be a good tour.
And who decided to dress Thor in white?
How I avoid the Bummer Life
June 23rd, 2009 / 5 Comments »
I go here
And read stuff and giggle at things that I may not admit in public to giggling to.
And then I steal something for my own blog.
Poppy Dance
June 23rd, 2009 / 1 Comment »
Another from the crackberry taken this spring and i am finally getting around to posting it.
This one is my backdrop on the phone. It makes me happy. It also makes me happy to be posting photos again.
Might even revive the old blog and fire up the printer.
I mean, I am feeling a little frisky…
More Lameness on this Blog
February 19th, 2009 / 8 Comments »
I said earlier that you can tell I am getting fit, by the sorry condition of my house and car.
I guess I can add the state of my blog to that as well.
It sure is getting harder to juggle everything. When I really focus on work, exercise suffers, when I stop exercising, the house is better, but I am unhappy. Well, whatchya gonna do?
And it doesn’t help that I have added two more sports to my life. I currently have 4 backpacks rolling around in my car: cycling clothes, swim thiingies, gym clothes and camera stuff. Needless to say, my car looks like crap and the chaos freaks me out sometimes.
But I rode in the sun today, and will bust a lung in swimming tonight and maybe take another 5 seconds off my 100 time. I am stretching enough that I can finally touch my toes. I am up to 20 pushups and can probably crack walnuts with my abs.
So there.
All these bitches checking out my britches
January 26th, 2009 / 2 Comments »
This song along totally makes up for all the weak songs last week.
My Jemaine crush just got bigger.
Their randomness kills me. Whats Bret doing wearing a Prince outfit in the kitchen?
Stolen from Nolan
January 14th, 2009 / 7 Comments »
Larry Nolan is one of my local heroes. And its not just because he has that rare tush that looks good in white shorts. The man is a champ, and in addition to work, family and training, manages to find lots of time to encourage and mentor beginners.
Larry is the main force behind the Early Bird crits. These pre-season races are meant as an introduction to the sport for both beginners and those left a little stale from the off season. It seems as if last week’s Early BIrds had several crashes and a couple of ambulance calls. Blech. So, he sent off an email to remind folks of the basics. Anyhoo, it contained some stuff thats worth repeating, no matter what your experience level:
“400+ riders enjoyed our incredible January California weather last Sunday. 70 degrees! It’s easy to say that the majority of the riders had a great time rolling around in the warm weather shoulder to shoulder with their new found friends and a few of our local professionals.
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the 9 crashes that we saw out there, including two ambulances. For our volunteer mentors and organization folks who take this very personally, this is NOT the way to start the new year.
Homework assignments for every rider thinking of coming out to the 2009 Early Birds…
- set a realistic goal for the day. Far better to come away with all your skin and an appropriate workout (off the front, slinky intervals, holding position, whatever) than a win in a training race, especially when some are racing for the first time in months.
- tone down the risk taking and practice those pack skills. You know, where you are holding good position in the field without pissing off people you’ll be racing with for years. Yeah, it’s January!
- have a minimum proficiency with these skills:
—-> know what an overlapped wheel looks like and stay away from it
—-> relaxing on the bike (arms, shoulders, head and smiling)
—-> capability to not overreact after contact with another rider (3 crashes in the 90+ rider 3/4 field all started with minor contact, including one from rubber necking)
—-> holding your line, including when there is an accident in front of you.
—-> ride predictably. Sure, we have lots of new racers but you would never jump out in front of a car, would you?
—-> how to panic stop
- practice your cornering skills (pedal and hand position, counter-steering, turning on a dime and tight figure eights)
- practice perfect pacelines”
And yes, those are all his world and national champ medals he is holding.
Back to Work
January 13th, 2009 / 5 Comments »
Ohmigawsh! What a gorgeous day it was in NorCal today. Whoever ordered up this weather for my birthday, thank you! Much appreciated.
This is the vista I get at the end of my little lunch loop. I work down in that valley below, but today, it was more tempting than normal, to skip the valley and keep pedaling in the hills.
If you wanna geek out for a bit, you can check out my lunch loop here, complete with geotagged pics:
Lunch ride at Harvey Bear
This ride normally takes only 45 minutes, but I dawdled today. A lot.
It was a good day for dawdling.
Drive By Vineyard
December 23rd, 2008 / No Comments »
I had my real camera with me in the car this morning. I really really should have stopped.
Too bad my job isn’t to drive/ride/walk around looking for lovely things.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Race leader
December 22nd, 2008 / 4 Comments »
I just haven’t been feeling the photography thing lately. Not having access to a way to post process my pics takes all the fun away. Especially for the way I like making the pics.
I headed out to a cross race with my crackberry with the intention of snapping a few pics and tweeting them real time to anyone who cares. And yes, I said tweeting.
The nice thing about crackberry pics is they are usually so bad I don’t really care about what I take. I just click away. But after a bit that photography buzz hit. You know that feeling when you really “see” the scene and a way to capture it. Its like being in the zone or something. And you just get all hyper and excited by what you see both in front of you and on the screen.
Anyway, it was fun. Almost as much as racing. Maybe.
More Crackberry Cross here
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Icarus
December 10th, 2008 / 8 Comments »
wingsuit base jumping from doubleA on Vimeo.
You must click on this video. The images of these guys, flying next to cliffs is both breathtaking and profound.
I love how people stretch possibilities. I love that there are people creative and brave enough to do this.
I love that its not me.
Defects
December 5th, 2008 / 3 Comments »
My crackberry phone has this weird camera defect that makes starburst thingies when light hits it.
Cool.
I love imperfections.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Early Riser
December 3rd, 2008 / 3 Comments »
I gotta remember to get up earlier in the mornings. But I am not a morning person.
If I got up earlier though, I might have a little time to stop and pull out my camera when I see something cool during my commute (which happens all the time because I live in an amazing place).
Instead, I roll down my window, aim my crackberry, swerve, piss off the people behind me and snap a pic. And I tell myself, tomorrow I will for sure get up early.
And yes Steve, I gave in and used the Flickr to blog. There goes the neighborhood.
Just a Test
November 29th, 2008 / 7 Comments »
Don’t mind me. Just trying to figure out how to post to my blog from my crackberry. I’ve figured it out mostly. Just can’t figure out how to post with pics. If anyone out there has some tips or tricks for this, let me know!
Halloween Copy Cat
November 1st, 2008 / 2 Comments »
Well, Surf City kept me from doing just about anything else lately, including blogging. I am going to cheat and post a post I posted on the Surf City site, and then, after I catch my breath and stuff, its back to pictures and blogging.
But man, it was so worth it. What a great time.
Thanks everyone for just about the most fun ever! We had an unbelievable 100 people in our costume cross this year and about 50 kids in kiddy kross. I’m still not done laughing…
A big thank you goes out to all the amazing volunteers who make this race happen:
The Women of Velo Bella
The Fellas of VOS Racing
Beth Welliver - Clinic
Clinic Instructors: Ben Jacques-Maynes, Shauna Potocky, Kathleen Bortolussi, Mark Abele, Clark Natwick, Sheila Moon, Barb Howe, Stella Carey, Steven Gile
Linda Locke/Erika Donald - Kiddie Kross
Amy Hall - Registration
Steve Litvin - Results
Natasha Perry - Sponsorships
Tim Watson - Decorations
Jeff Clark - Legacy
Our amazing sponsors (check them out over there <---- ) and everyone who pounded a stake, wrapped course tape, picked up trash, raced their hearts out and wore a silly outfit. Check out the results and all the amazing pictures!
Can’t Katch Up
October 4th, 2008 / 2 Comments »
I was too busy before our Ketchum trip, too busy during, and now too busy afterwards to get a decent post going.
Hopefully soon…
In the meantime, enjoy the Aspens
The Bad Guys
October 2nd, 2008 / 4 Comments »
What do you do when reality is actually funnier than a Tina Fey SNL skit?
I want to watch the debate tonight, but don’t know if my ribs are healed enough yet to handle it.
Mountain Biking and Sprinter Vans
September 23rd, 2008 / 6 Comments »
I tried mountain biking twice before this trip. Except that wasn’t mountain biking.
The ride we did on Sunday in Chico was mountain biking.
If someone asked to recommend a good trail for someone just recovering from an accient involving a broken collarbone or rib, B Trail at Bidwell Park is not the trail anyone would recommend.
If someone asked for a trail that made you swear on the climb, concentrate over rocks, give a yippy skippy yeehaw on the descent and genuinely fall in love with mountain biking again, then B Trail at Bidwell Park was just the ticket.
I was dying on the climb. Frightened that I could no longer continue and maybe real mountain biking was too much for me right now. I was ready to turn around and give up….Luckily my ride buddies are patient and the descent was just around the corner.
~~~
We made it safely to Idaho. The Sprinter van is mostly still in one piece.
The scenery here is stunning. We did a little ride by the house yesterday that was so scrumptious, I would be happy doing loops of that all week. But we have new territory to explore and new trails to conquer
Private Idaho
September 11th, 2008 / 13 Comments »
I was gonna get all politicky in today’s blog. I’ve had a post brewing and stewing in my head for a few days now.
But daydreams of Idaho keep interrupting my thoughts.
We leave for Ketchum next Saturday. My first non racing related vacation since my trip to Canmore in 2004. And that trip is one of my fondest memories. Epic country to be explored with great friends. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Plus, Heather’s obsession with Rye whiskey is sure to keep us entertained.
Ketchum if you can.
~~
I will leave with this one sorta politicky message. I hope that the seriousness of today’s anniversary causes our country and media to pause and reflect on the substantive issues, rather than on attention garnering , time clock wasting, bullshit tactics like getting all hypocritically pouncy over lipsticked pigs.
There’s a New Sheriff in Town
September 8th, 2008 / 9 Comments »
The Good, The Bad, and The Barry, originally uploaded by Sabine Dukes.
.
Did you know that the Vuelta is going on right now?
Its been on for a week, and I just realized it yesterday. Levi is in yellow. And I haven’t been paying a lick of attention.
It might be because I am too busy riding and swimming and picking backsplash tile. Or it might be because I am sort of over it right now.
I hope not, because I love the sport of cycling….but I am a little weary of it. Not just weary of the euro stuff and all the drugs and bad hair. But of cycling in general. The myopic training hard and talking about heart rates and carbon nanograms and calories and watts and I would have won if only type of cycling.
As I seek to regain fitness, its not racing I am thinking about as the epitome of fitness. Its the effortless gliding speed of a tailwind, the power in the last two strokes at the crest of a climb, the body language to scuttle over a tricky rock garden, the glow of a smile at the end of an awesome singletrack.
Cyclocross season is coming up and its colorful wackiness and plentiful beer might be just the ticket to reignite my love for the racing…until then, I’ll be honored to enjoy the ride.
Marco? Polo!
August 27th, 2008 / 21 Comments »
I’ve been swimming for about 3 weeks now.
And, this weekend, as I got ready to swim and I watched a few of the other swimmers…I had a moment of clear self awareness.
In the water, I am a fred.
I am not going to toot my own horn or anything, but its been at least 10 years since I was a cycling fred. I’ve come a long way if I dont say so myself.
But in the water, I am a fred.
I dont use those fancy speedo eye socket goggles, I use these things that are almost as big as a scuba mask. Now, I’m no expert or anything, but I am guessing thats pretty fredly.
But I love my scuba googles. They dont feel like my eyeballs are gonna pop out of the other side of my head and I can see everything….(which is actually not a good thing at one of the pools I go to, but I will spare you the details on all the strange floaty bits). Don’t tell me you can see anything with those little eye socket googles, cuz you can’t.
And then I bought my swimsuit at Big 5. The Big 5 right next to the Salvation Army store in Watsonville. Thats gotta totally be fredly. Its also reversible and I am guessing thats gotta be the fredly equivalent of leaving your reflectors on your bike.
Dont even get me started on the swim cap issue. I think that might be a whole blog post on to its self.
And toys….I notice that swimmers have a lot of pool toys. But not the cool ones like Log Flume Water Joust or anything. These are things like kicky boards and hand paddles. I used to wonder why everyone had all these toys. I mean, just swim and be done with it.
But after a few weeks of swimming I realized why.
Because swimming is freaking BORING
and you need something to break the monotony.
splash, splash, splash, push off the wall, splash, splash, splash, push off the wall, splash, splash, oh no please dont get in my lane…..whew, splash, push off the same damn wall, splash, splash, oh look that lane line is a little crooked someone should fix that, splash, push off the wall, splash, ewwww is that a pubi…
BORING. No dowhills, no rock gardens, no oh shit moments (lets hope)…the same damn scenery over and over again…and no chit chat. If I can’t chit chat in a sport, it loses a lot of luster for me.
So I bought some pool toys. I bought a bright yellow old school kicky board that I splash around on and pretend I know what I am doing while I stare at the warning to not use it as a lifesaving device and wonder why not because its holding me up pretty good and if I were drowning I wouldn’t be very picky.
And also a bouy that you stick near your hoo haw and try to hang on to it while you swim. So thats always good for a little fun. But I also bought my toys at Big Fred so I am guessing they are not chi chi. These folks are just lucky I dont plop in the pool during lane swim in one of those big floaty loungers with a giant inflatable palm tree and a margarita holder and start playing Marco Polo.
I confessed my fredliness to Michael (who has the inate ability to not be a fred in any sport he tries…well, except maybe like football or hockey or something). And Michael tried to reassure me. He told me that the people we see at our little funky gym pool aren’t really real swimmers anyway. Was this supposed to make me feel better…knowing that I was not only a fred, but a fred’s fred?
Marco?
Your Boob is Bubbling
August 20th, 2008 / 7 Comments »
So far within the last few days Michael and I have:
- learned how to dance Salsa Rueda
- swam a gajillion laps in the pool
- had a massage
- got acupuncture
- lifted weights
- stretched
- picked blackberries
- listened to podcasts
- watched Tropic Thunder
- watched olympics
- mailed out bella stuff
- played the guitar
- read books by a fire while eating kobe burgers
- kicked the kitchen remodel back into gear
- bubbled away hours in the hot tub
and all while operating on half the usual brain and energy levels.
How is all of this possible?
Well, neither one of us is riding.
Its utterly amazing how much of your life bike riding takes up. Not that I am complaining because my main goal in getting healthy is so that I can get on the bike again….but man….that bike can lead to such a myopic and unbalanced life.
Since I am one to look on the bright side, I am embracing this period of recovery as a time to undo some of that imbalance. Michael and I are having a blast being gym/spa rats and having weekends where we can sleep in and drive nowhere.
I am sure we will tire of it eventually. And I know I will be back on the bike soon….but racing? I dunno….
we’ll see.
~~~
I love watching these Olympics. I have like 7 different blogs about them that I wish I had time for. But for now… I love the Track and Field sprinter cam. Beautiful.
Don’t Look Up
August 10th, 2008 / 13 Comments »
Haven’t posted in a few days because I have been busy whining about my recovery.
Things were going fine. A little too slow for my liking, but I was mostly coping.
Then I went and picked blackberries.
Picking blackberries in my yard is just about my favorite thing to do. Its calming and its fulfilling and I get to eat sweet blackberries grown without any water or attention or effort on my part.
And the blackberry part was all cool, but after I was done I went in my little garden shed (which since I dont garden I should just call a shed) . The garden shed features a doorway thats about 5′5″ tall. I am 5′7″ tall and sure as shit, I smacked the hell out of my forehead on the way out.
I could hear my doctor’s words ringing in my ears….”just don’t hurt your head again while you heal”.
And of course, I am back to being as dizzy as I was several weeks ago.
Just to make certain I didn’t do anything dangerous to myself, I went to see a neurologist. He gave me lots of tests. It was sort of like a combination of a DUI and a high school equivalency test.
I had to touch my nose, walk in a straight line. I almost launched into that 5-4-3-2-2-3-4-5 thing on the fingers out of habit (you guys who know that know who you are….).
But then the doc asked me to spell “world” backwards.
d……………
umm……d……..
…….
then I wrote the word with my finger in the air in front of me.
d..l…r…ow !
I have no idea if I got demerits for spelling it in the air, but I was pretty pleased with myself.
Next, the doctor asked me what 17 times 3 was. I totally thought he was kidding…who knows what that is just in their heads? I sure don’t, even without a concussion. Give me a ten-key dammit. Or an excel spreadsheet.
But he was quite serious and he started to look really concerned and worried so I scrambled for an answer. 17……..
17……..
17 is a stupid number. 20 is better.
Aha! 20 times 3 equals 60. And 60 minus 9 is
51!
I said this calculation out loud, so I probably got more demerits.
I was worried that I was going to have to do trigonometry or that isoceles triangle theorem thing or something next, but he seemed satisfied.
The final test involved the little mallet and a tuning fork. For real, a tuning fork. He pulled it right out of his little black bag. I had no idea doctors still used tuning forks or little black bags. He bopped me with the mallet and dinged me with the fork. Stuffed it all back into the little black bag, And said my brain seemed fine and that I would just have to be patient and wait for the concussion to heal.
Which could take several months.
Waaaahhhh..months? But what if I get stuck like this? waaaaahh.
Fortunately, I am part of an awesome team of cyclists (who bang their heads a lot it seems!) and I asked them to share their concussion stories…and something about hearing similar stories, just made me feel so much better.
Well, that and Tracie’s yummy peanut butter cupcakes.
Delicate Little Flower
July 30th, 2008 / 14 Comments »
I saw these little sunflowers on my way home from work yesterday and had to stop and take pics. I don’t carry my regular camera around right now, because with my injury, I can’t hold the camera up to take pics.
But I did have my trusty Motorola.
So I used my camphone instead and all was swell until I got super dizzy. The concussion effects leave me a bit swoony these days and i guess leaning over and doing all the posturing necessary to take these pics was too much.
I almost fainted right there in the field. Luckily, a few solid breaths later I was able to clambor back to my car and drive the 2.2 miles home. (where I milked it a bit for some lovey sympathy)
I have to admit to being a bit frustrated last night. Almost fainting in a field is just a wee bit pitiful…and I hate being pitiful.
I’m gonna have to go back to that field and show it who’s boss.
Oh yeah, almost forgot! Scar picture:
Tour Hangover
July 28th, 2008 / 13 Comments »
Photos from The Big Picture
I got up early this morning, ready to head downstairs, make some Smooth Move (don’t laugh, its better than prunes) tea and settle in on the couch for some Tour…when I remembered that its over.
If there was one good thing about my crash, it was that I timed it with the tour.
So, now what?
~~
This blog is all about cycling and photography and sometimes those worlds collide and make beautiful things. Thanks to Beth, one of my photography links on the sidebar over there is The Big Picture from Boston.com. They update each day with large wonderful photos that are all great examples of photojournalism.
Well, I noticed that today’s update was a celebration of Tour photos. So, if you are feeling Tour withdrawals, its worth a little peek over there to check out the shots.
Air Time
July 25th, 2008 / 29 Comments »
I went for a walk yesterday.
It was a little disappointing. It was just a short walk, but I could barely complete it. My hip cramped up (yes, hips can cramp), my ribs all tightened up, and I was out of breath. The worst part was that I could not even take pictures and I looked like a total goober trying to hold up the camera with one hand.
By the time I got back to the car, I was limping and scrunched all sideways and could barely move. And the only pictures I could take were of the ground.
It was pretty pitiful.
Healing is weird like that. The day after the accident, Donna and I were doing laps around the hospital ward. We had boundless energy as we dragged our giant iv poles around and around the halls. Maybe we were doped up on morphine, maybe we were thrilled to be moving and breathing on our own, maybe we weren’t really going as fast as I remember. But it just seems like I haven’t made a lot of progress since that day.
(I totally took a lap on Donna in our IV crit by the way…just sayin…and dont laugh at my bed head)
I am going to try walking again today..maybe just a few feet further, cuz thats what us athletic types do. We can’t sit still and if folks tell us to rest, we do the opposite and if a walk disappoints, we come back the next day and try again.
~~
I’ve totally gotten into the Tour this year. Have no idea if I would have had I not be laid up, but I am glad I gave it a chance. What a show these guys are giving! Love the CSC team tag, and Cadel crying with the lion, and Menchov all emotionless and tenacious, and Christian finding confidence and its still wide open for the top spot.
Good stuff
~~
Rolling Along
July 22nd, 2008 / 15 Comments »
I’m at work now.
Oh wow.
You know how, when you first start getting drunk, and you are just sitting there with friends at some table laughing and being silly and you don’t really know how drunk you are until you try to go to the bathroom?
And then, when you are in the bathroom, you kind of take a couple of steadying breaths and go, ””oh…whew….I’m feeling a little…tipsy” And you try to sober yourself a little by shaking your head and focusing?
Well going to work today has been sort of like that. I really didn’t know how hurt or concussed I was until I tried to do normal things.
Things like looking at Outlook appointments and checking voicemail require chess-like skillz. I opened a spreadsheet and closed it right up again because it gave me a eyeache.
And now I am sitting in front of my emails in a bit of a stupor and I can’t focus or concentrate on more than one sentence.
Facebook status updates is about all I can handle right now. One simple sentence at a time on a little roll thingie.
Sabine is starting at her computer screen
Sabine is hungry for chocolate cake
Fox Racing is a big building
Sabine’s Boss is not here today
Morgan Hill is windy
Sabine has already forgotten what she was going to write in this blog
Good thing its free burrito at Chipotle day.
Forest for the Trees
July 21st, 2008 / 16 Comments »
Welcome to my new blog!
Bella babble is gone. Time to seperate myself from so much bellaness. Plus, there was just no place for me on the new Bella site. As it should be.
And, with me laid up on the couch, I had a little time to put together my new personal site. However, I am still feeling the effects of the concussion, so there’s no warranty on this place. It could come crashing down any moment and probably looks terrible in any browser except IE7. I am blaming all my failings right now on the concussion.
When I think back on the crash, the bonk to the head is what keeps me awake at nights. The broken ribs are a real pain, the broken collarbone an expensive annoyance…but a bonk to the head is scary stuff. I wasted too many brain cells in my youth and can’t really afford to lose any more.
I have come to LOVE racing on the track…but have no idea if I will be able to get back into it like before. I feel like a jilted lover. I had no idea the track could do this to me and if I can ever trust again.
Maybe its time for long lovely mountain bike rides. Somehow, the relief to my soul, always comes in the mountains.
~~
In other news, I hope to be offering prints for sale on this site. Look for info on that soon!
Be sure to check out the slideshow on the sidebar over there —> . It contains photos from some of my Flickr contacts and there is some wonderful stuff being created out there.
What else, oh, for you facebookers, there is a feed of facebook status thingies down there. So, thats nice.
Okay, see you out there.
Almost done
June 28th, 2008 / 5 Comments »
Thank goodness I am almost done. I’ve just about saturated my brain with css and php and wtf. And I’m getting antsy for some picture making.
Where Have I Been?
June 22nd, 2008 / 7 Comments »
I’ve been here, in WordPress hell. I sure wish I knew what I was doing.
So stay tuned for the official unveiling, and then maybe I can get back to picture making and stuff.
I also realized that when we move the site over and abandon our goofy disparate blogger sites, that this babble page will be sort of stranded and outdated. So that probably means a new platform for this site too.
In the meantime, I raced the AVC last night. At first I was not going to because its AVC and thats for real racers. But one of our bellas came in from Portland to race it and so I just had to give it a go.
I am so glad I did because I cannot tell you how awesome it was to be racing on our local track with soooo many strong women. I was thrilled and honored.
And then I drank lots of the free wine.
Vernon
June 12th, 2008 / 6 Comments »
This is Vernon. Or at least thats what his Staples name badge read.
Vernon was kicking back at Love Park, when quite suddenly a bunch of cyclists, tv cameras, photographers, and local somebodys invaded the corner of the park he was kicking back at.
People were running around taking pictures and doing the rah rah thing and going back and forth and stepping over his feet and standing right in front of him. And then Ina spoke and Freddie talked, and kittens giggled, and a band played.
Vernon looked pretty irritated by it all. Curious, but irritated. Who were these people that just came in all loud and colorful and messing up a proper Staples lunch break?
And then, just as suddenly as they arrived, the cacophony of cyclists and the media left. All was quiet. And Vernon was still there.
I can totally relate to Vernon.
This Old House
June 4th, 2008 / 14 Comments »
I got my car insurance renewal paperwork in the mail the other day, and it said I qualify for a new discount because I have 25 years of driving experience.
25 years?
I flipped the letter around to make certain it really was addressed to me.
Then I got on the 10key just to be extra sure.
41-25 = 16
I am too young to have 25 years experience doing anything. I’m not even really an adult yet.
I am not usually one to be hung up on age, and mostly its not something I think about. And 41 really is still young.
But sometimes I am reminded in ways I’d rather not be reminded. Like the other day I went to get my eyebrows waxed. And I am like most of you bike racer types, getting my eyebrows waxed is not high on the priority list and its probably been a few years since the last one.
So I am laying on the table and the estetician is putting the wax on (this is the part before the part that hurts). I notice that she is also putting the wax waaaay up on my forehead. Not just my brow, but my forehead. Maybe she’s thorough, I think. Or maybe….maybe I have brows on my forehead.
I asked myself out loud “since when did my eyebrows start growing out of my forehead?” And the estetician sweetly responds that its normal for that to happen as we age.
So there’s that. Brittle bones and eyebrows on our foreheads.
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