BUY MY BIKE!!!

WHAT: 2008 TREK 69ER (big in the front, small in the back)
SIZE: MEDIUM
PRICE: $1,200ish

I bought this bike in November to train on and used it through January. This could be bad, since that is winter, but i live in So Cal. It got "muddy" once because i wasn't watching where i was going and rode through the only puddle within miles.

Of course it is in pristine condition and it is a ton of fun to ride!!

If you or anyone you know of is interested, contact me!! (only about the bike, come on...)

I am way more logical than most people think

I get to fly to SLC tomorrow for a little mountain bike event. I am flying the reputable DELTA Airlines which sees a bicycle in a box, as well, something extremely heavy and cumbersome, charging $150 each way to transport my toy.

So i drove it to Fullerton instead. 50 miles in the car. One hour, gridlock style, drive time. I met Vanessa in a pseudo-vacant parking lot to exchange the goods. The drop off was clean and we even headed out for a ride! the ride lasted longer than the ride out there, thus negating the hour of drive time back home.

Vanessa approaching something, we never quite figured out what it was


i am afraid of man-made obsticles. This one was no different than any other


It was fun, urban riding and i even took two pictures! but duh, my cord is at work! So now the bikes are tucked away, awaiting their departure tomorrow morning. i feel a bit funny, like i sent my kid with the neighbors the long route to vacation. I hope they remember to feed him.

Racing in Park City is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. One of my favorite events is riding the bike path through the rolling hills and tall grasses back to the condos. Or eating family style with the 9 people we cram into our weekend house, which is a close second to the twisty and clean single track.

This is the first time I will race this event not living at altitude, so i wonder if that will bother me? This is also my first time racing it as a pro, i don't think that will bother me though. I know what to expect.

One weekend closer to fitness, coming up!!

Do Work

I have seen this moto on some t-shirts. I like it.

I have been chastised for being so lame about my blog. i dont care.

Two weeks ago, i did my 2nd road race of the year. Pescadero Classic way up by San Jose.

Here are some stats:

around 70+ women in the starting group of Cat 3/4 and masters
7 hour drive there and back
47 miles of racing
I was in at least 5 chase groups, all of which ended with this phrase spoken by a true roadie: "Let's sit up." WHAT!!! are you mad! They are like 30 seconds up! Those gals we have dropped 4 times are a minute back. What's the problem!

Since i am a bull headed MTB racer, i pulled, 40 women, for a really long time.
I ended up 15th
We were shivering, uncontrollably, at the start line socked-in with fog. Its been a long time since i experienced that one.

At the start, the head marshal told us the rules, blah blah blah. She said we could not work with dropped Cat 5 men. And they could not work with us. Then some lonely racer piped up "What if they are hot?" the answer was to exchange contact info along side them then be on your way. Then from the back, another more well -learned girl states "Why would you want to hook up with a dropped Cat 5?" everyone laughed. A lot. Sorry boys. Keep doing work, and you can be a dropped Cat 4.

Road racing, well, maybe next year. AS for now, i am too busy riding my bike. I think i am too dumb for it anyways. Way too much thinking.

Another form of work took place in an un-air conditioned gym 3 miles from my house, working at a basketball camp for kids 9-15 years old. We had 73 of them. The weather hovered above 100 each day.

Quote of the camp: "Can i guard the brown boy?" um, no. We don't say that.

I did get ice cream every day and a nice check that will get me to the east coast to race my bike. My mountain bike that is.

Sometimes, i work through the night

So last night i went to the most unhappy place on earth (disney) with 44 High School seniors, who graduated sunday, so now i look at them as the new Freshman Pleebs. 80% of them will get their butt kicked in college.

Although i have a HUGE laundry list of the funny, inappropriate, and horrid things i saw between the hours of 11pm and 6am in Disneyland, i will just share my favorites. In no specific order or greatness.

1.) While using the girl's room, the cleaning lady was talking to one of the girls (that was weird in and of itself) "Good thing ya'll came today. I heard Comptons coming tomorrow.

2.) While using the girl's room, the cleaning lady was talking to one of the girls (that was weird in and of itself) "ya'll better not puke in my bathroom tonight."

3.) While trying to exit the Matterhorn ride i had to say over and over again: "Excuse me while you make out, but may i get through?"

4.) We had a long walk of shame to the entrance. A sponsor from another school reeked of alcohol and she was sharing a flask with her students.

5.) The haunted house wasn't scary at all. But it did stop halfway through and turn the lights on. One smarty pants yelled "I see strings, i see strings!!!"

6.) At precisely 3am i was drinking coffee and eating a giant cookie.

7.) The Safari ride thing was not funny at all.

8.) My kids were so out of it, i was able to successfully walk 7" behind them for roughly 10 minutes without them knowing i was there, thus hearing everything they said. Or did not say.

9.) I went to Staters to buy some food to refuel. the bagger and the checker didn't even talk to me. And the bagger neglected to inquire whether or not i wanted plastic or paper. I started to listen to their conversation. They were talking smack about his girlfriend. The last thing the checker said before i walked away was "well you can't break up with her. She has to break up with you since she is pregnant." I am glad he has a job to support his family.

That's all i can remember....

Different Dimensions on How others Live

This is an excerpt from an email Maureen Kunz sent out. She is a fellow rookie MTB Pro and completely tearing it up! She has taken some time to go work in Rwanda, and here is a bit of what she is up to: (She is the one in BLUE)



Hi friends!
I am writing to say hello from Rwanda! I came here a week ago to help with Project Rwanda and the Coffee Bike Project. Coffee is Rwandaʼs only true export, and independent coffee farmers are helping to turn this countryʼs economy around in the aftermath of the genocide.

The goal of the Coffee Bike Project is to help Rwanda by helping its farmers. Mountain bike legend Tom Ritchey designed special coffee bikes made to carry extremely large loads of raw coffee beans to the washing stations. The bikes offer faster means to transport fresh coffee cherries to buyers, allowing the farmers to generate a much larger profit. The bikes are distributed among the independent farmers through a micro-loan system.

I am here with five others from UC-Berkeley. We've been building up donated bikes, visiting bike shops, and teaching Rwandans how to maintain their new bikes. We have also had some time to travel the country and see its beauty. We went on a safari and saw zebras, baboons, hippos, an elephant, and lots of cool birds. We also traveled to the volcanoes in the western part of the country, along with the massive Lake Kivu. We spend most of our time in Kigali, the capital. It has a lot of people, cars, motorbikes and black exhaust that stinks.

Check her groups Blog here:
The Bears in Rwanda Blog
Check out her teams blog here:
Team Lost Coast Brewery

Some things have been going down

If you need a new outfit or two, stop by my school. This is our collection of lost and found items. Although i personally have lost many items this year, i did not find any of them here. It has probably already been sold on ebay.



This is from the first 6 minutes of the Firestone National MTB race. Check out the level of dirt already caked on our skin! And that haze of dust NEVER left...


It was so hot, i wanted to de-kit and Patti took her gloves off. And this was still lap one.


At last weeks Cal State race i ended up on the podium and i just think it is funny that although i am rarely on the top block any more, i am still just as big as the girl 5 inches higher than I.

Last Chance Workout

I am a quitter.

But i am just following in the steps of the MANY of have come to class once or twenty times and now are nowhere to be found. 4 years of this is enough.

Tomorrow morning, 5:45am will be the last spin class i will ever teach. in my life. And thank goodness for that!

I am tired. I am bored with it. I really suck at making CD's and I don't want to drop another penny on iTunes.

I have several ideas of what i will do with my "free-time" now, if you can even call it that. 4:30-7:00am doesn't really fall into that catagory. But i think i might sleep in, thats a thought. Or do a ton of abs, or shockingly, ride my bike.

But i am pretty excited about it.