The Cycling Continuum

To start things off, we have to welcome SITKA to the pet family. He is with Suzanne, my sister-in-law in this picture. I think he is about 9 months old. He seems a bit on the evil side, maybe it is the white eye brows or something. Jeremy and Suzanne had him for a weekend, they act as a Husky Foster home at times. Then they just kept him, making him NUMBER 4!!!!!!

But he is a good boy, even bell trained. They put a cow bell on the sliding glass door and he rings it when he needs to go out. Unlike Sherpa, who simply pees on the door during the night, thinking he is outside. He is now leashed to the bed at night. The other two pets are Glacier and Koho.



In rare Britney Spears Fashion: oops i did it again.

Poor, poor Jason. The ride was titled the HELL RIDE for a reason.

The trail: Santa Ana River Trail.

The Terrain: Rocks, sand, pebbles, ACORNS (of death), leaves, roots, lunar scape (burned areas) and shear cliffs.

The Length: Oh, only about 27 miles

The Company: Just a few, about 34

If you are up to date, as you should be, with my blog, you know that the new husband and even more newely converted cyclist, has gone on a few rides. Now i used to bail out and leave him to his devices, but now his shiney bike awaits the hitch rack as he sits poised on the futon, wearing the same jersey he wore yesterday with the same tufts of helmet hair sticking out of his helmet vents. He MUST come a long.

But a ride of this magnitude is stressful. There are people all "racered out like spandex warriors" (direct quote) that push the pace. The first 20 minutes found him gasping for any semblance of oxygen in the crisp mountain air. I had the dubious distinction of riding SWEEPER, cleaner upper and the one who wards off monsters. This put me last in the pack, strategicly placed to help Jason as well as the others who, literally, only ride once a year.

Through all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, scraped shins, near death drops onto holly bushes, Jason was planning his next adventure. Although it would be approximately 3 hours 25 minutes shorter then the ride being completed, it would happen none the less.

I had a good time too, and saw some crazy wild techniques and had some great laughs. One guys did a number on his derailur hanger, and there was nothing i could do to bend it back and get the chain out of the spokes. Then a rider came UP the SART and said "Hey Joy!! SOmeone took your bike!!" Actually, i was loaning the good ol' Gary Fisher Sugar to a friend of the crew, who was riding up the trail from me. I have a habit of having things that stand out, so good to know that if one of my bikes actually WAS stollen, the cycling community would have my back and pretty much take them down.

The guys who stopped was BRIAN BLAIR, used to ride with the Warrior Society, who is a mechanic, and fixed the rear der!!! NOw THAT Is what the cycling community is all about!!!

This ride was STELLAR hahahah, funny word. But truly, to have from the novice athlete through the Pro rankings, they all came out and rode together. Nodody was throwing down or strutting their Pecock feathers. Everyone was helping someone else, supporting and cheering. Christie organized the ride through her "very important job" and it is a yearly tradition for them.