Like You Don't Even Know....

A TRIBUTE TO:

The things too convaluted to explain
The elation too intense to admit to
The angst that is assumed not to exist
And all other things that when truly thought about and delved into, all you can do is shake your head, and mutter, ever so softly "LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW"

Today, I was supposed to report back to work. Instead, i sat at the Denver airport and waited for a flight back home. Is it bad to miss the first day back on the job after having the entire summer off to dilly dally?

But i think i am ready to face the masses once again, smile intact and energy level on the high side.

Between searching for homes for my dogs (DO YOU WANT ONE?? THEY CUDDLE...) to attempting to sell a car and knowing that i have to find a place to live and wondering just what inadimate object i will realize i have left behind, and trying to think just where i packed all my work polos away, racing and the community it brings has become my solace.

Not just racing. Its riding the bike. My most productive therapy sessions over the past few weeks have been in the saddle. Some off the back rolling solo. Others full throttle at STXC pace led by guys i never imagined i could hang with, and then you have the meandering roll with friends.

Knowing that i have the challenges of a race to endure and conquer and to suffer through and possibly miserably fail at has been awesome. my eyes and emotions (which do exist) have been open to an entirely different realm of existance. Some people have backed off, been intimidated by another persons pains, too consumed by their own daily battles or lack there of, or simply neglected to care about the status of my existance.

BUT...there have been others. The others, as they will remain nameless except for in the deepest portions of my soul, have shown me the unheard of levels of exceptance and understanding and support that goes beyond cliches and pats on the back. They have embraced whatever emotion i am that day and showed me in a way that words only cheapen, what friends are all about.

A RUN DOWN OF THE NEAR PAST: THIS COULD BE LONG, like you don't even know...


There is nothing like a race at 9,000+ Feet!



Jeremy and I pre-riding slacker style. We rode the course Thursday and Friday, giving me the feeling that if the race just sucked, my vacation would have been wonderful still!!



Chasing these guys around the Aspen made the rides much more entertaining and hard!! I think around this corner we found Heather Holmes from Kenda, she made me hurt real bad too!!



Mom was in attendance!! She was doing her work out on the deck, and i caught her! We also made her galavant all over the mountain, but not on a bike!


This little obstacle snuck out of nowhere! Pretty boring on race day, but friday was full of down hillers doing what they do...roll over stuff.


We realized that Aspen is Palm Springs at elevation, they cruise around with Uggs on while driving huge planet killers. With that in mind, they sure do set up a nice bike wash!!



They even made sure we knew what went where!


Saturday meant race day for MATT which left Jeremy and I with the dubious distinction of doing the feed. Well we sucked at it. If you look way down in the left corner, that is Jeremy RUNNING down the mountain to a trail to get to a road to get to Matt. I was not so hot on his heels in my KEENE flops, but we made it, and Matt got his snacks!!


While HIKING back to a spot to see Matt come through again, we decided to be good stewards of the trails and pick up wrappers. OK, the yogurt was mine, but this is what we found walking about four steps. Ever heard of Pack it In, Pack It Out?!


909 Dinner Crew - Boy's, should we make it a weekly event?? Eric and Adam from PossAbilities made the treck out to CO too, and that's Matt. It was NUTS how many CA people were out there! Always cool to have good friends out at the events!!

I HAD A BIT OF A RACE

This is about 20 minutes from the end!!


This MASSIVE abrassion made me almost DNF the event. Actually, i did have a stellar endo right infront of two junior girls. rad. What a great example i am!


8 seconds from the finish. There was a big bump that went from dirt/grass to pavement, i thought about dying there.


But in the end, i was able to pull out a podium. yeeea!


But i could not have done it without these guys! James, who asked me 12 minutes before the start if i needed anything. Well, my drive train is all out of whack. Whada ya got?? Done. Worked like butter. Then there was Matt, who dutifully did my feeds, even though he was shivering and had to borrow someones fuzzy fleece! I also threw my glasses at him and on the next lap James handed me Matt's glasses, quite complex actually!


Also, whats a girl to do with a dirty bike? Make the Brother clean it! Actually, he just hooked me up. He decided not to race because he is a slacker, i mean Cat 3 road racer so he would have had to buy an expert license, or be a sport sand bagger. It was so cool to ride the trails with him, get some tips, and have all the help i never even thought of. he made me eggs on race day. what a guy.


Although i did not win the race, i had accrued enough points to win the overall series title, which was pretty cool, especially since the family was there.

That concludes the national mountain bike series. I have one more Cal State race and some covert ops, but my Expert Career is almost coming to a close! I am so stoked with how my season went and extremely grateful for all the support and help and love from everyone!!

This was a super long post with a lot of photos. i hope you read it four times, at least, and leave me a comment, because i could have been asleep about two hours ago. and remember, i do have a job, and starts tomorrow....