Iola

First off I have to say race day at Iola was just gorgeous. Sunny day, course in great condition, and the excitement of seeing everyone after a long winter. There is something so exciting about the first race of the WORS season. I could hardly wait for this one, especially since I love the course.

All I could have asked for is maybe four more hours of sleep. I'd like to see how I would do in a race with a full 8 hours of sleep the night before! The drive up was rough due to tiredness and major allergy issues. Lots of sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat, stuffy nose, all that stuff. I also stopped for a little while at a rest area to take a nap, which was a good thing, I felt much more awake after that.

In the morning I saw Dana at breakfast. I haven't talked to her in a while so I didn't realize they were coming to the race. It was nice to see her for the first time since Chequamegon. They must have left the race early, because I didn't see her later in the day.

There was a long line at registration and at the tent they said I couldn't use my race number plate from last year even though it was the same, so I changed to the new plate. I got everything done before my race started but only managed to ride up and down the parking lot rows once or twice for a warm up. I had hoped to get more of a warm up to prepare for the first hill. I had decided to ride the Blur instead of the Tomac. (I realized at Rock Cut that I am liking the Blur much more since I had the bars cut.) The seat was set higher, and I couldn't get back up on the seat once I got to the front row, so my start was a tad wobbly and people passed me. I missed an opportunity there for a great start - I almost never get to start in the first row. More people passed me as I struggled up the hill after the turn. Things got better after that. A girl in front of me took the good line I wanted to take down the sandy hill that goes by the start area. I wanted to ride it faster but I didn't want to leave the line and venture over into the churned up sandier area to pass. That was the beginning of the theme that played for the rest of the race - I often felt stuck because I was not aggressive enough or comfortable enough passing in the singletrack. I don't have the fitness to get the acceleration that I needed. I did have it in some of the open areas when I was able to pass people, but not consistently. I had the same problem again on the screamin' downhill that shoots you up the big hill. The two girls in front of me were taking the downhill really really cautiously. I am a cautious rider too, but I wanted to go much faster on that downhill in hopes of getting partway up the hill. Yet I didn't feel comfortable trying to pass two nervous people on the downhill. So I poked along behind them, having not had the fitness to pass them before. (I realize that many of you in other categories have the constant challenge of passing others and don't see what the big deal is, but I don't have as much experience with being the passer. We seemed to be closer together this time, and there were more guys with us.)

Anyway, many parts of the race were really really fun, and some parts were really painful. I walked some hills, and I had lots of company. When my back/legs started to really hurt vs. just ache I would give it a rest by walking up a hill, which worked really well as pain management. I lost some places, but I was able to finish the race. In the first lap I was just surviving, but in the second I started to warm up and got a little spring in my legs. My back was getting worse but the rest of me was starting to wake up. I was passing back and forth with several people, at least one of whom was in my age group. I didn't know most of the people in my age group in this race, which was weird, so I wasn't really sure who was who. None of the people that I was riding around seemed familiar except for a few of the teenagers. It didn't feel like the races last year, it felt really new and different, with so many familiar faces not there. We passed quite a few guys. It was fun watching people's strengths and weaknesses as we rallied back and forth. One clydesdale guy who struggled mightily on the uphills was super confident and fast on the downhills. Some people would pass me on the hills but I'd catch them on the flats.

It was only my second trail ride of the year, but I didn't feel quite as clumsy as I usually do at this time of year. I think that's because often my first race is one of my first times out on a bike that year, but this year I did more road riding in the winter than I usually do. I think it helped, although I still had my share of bobbles on the turns and roots.

In the fun singletrack on the back part (second part) of the course a big group of us got stuck behind a little boy (I mean really little!). I think we were all hoping to get a chance to pass when things opened up, but he held his own in the open stretches and we'd end up piled up behind him again. It was frustrating, but what can you do? You just have to be patient. That seemed to last forever, though it probably really didn't.

When we got near the end of the race, I was in the final stretches of singletrack behind a teenage girl that I had seen on and off the whole race. She looked familiar from last year. I wasn't that concerned that she wasn't going that hard until I saw that we had caught the person that I thought was first place in my age group. At that point a guy behind me was yelling for this girl in front of me to pick up the pace, since she was just poking along. That was when I really needed to have some nerve to pass in the twisty singletrack but I didn't have it. I made a comment that the person ahead of us was in my age group, but I should have been more direct and asked if she could let me pass. I thought there would be a long enough open spot somewhere but it just didn't work out that way. If the finish had been a little further from the place we popped out of the woods I could have passed the age grouper in a final sprint, but even then the other girl was in the way. So, due to my lameness, I lost first in age group by TWO seconds. I definitely had enough ooomph left to catch and pass first place, but apparently not the guts to ask for what I needed to do. It was still a fun race though, and I still love the course.

We had a good team turnout of ten people, considering the long drive for all of us. Several people moved up to new categories and quite a few people made the podium. It felt like a really good start to the season.

And getting to hang out and catch up with so many people afterwards was, as always, great. There are still alot of people I didn't get to talk to, so I hope I see some of you at Lake Geneva!

Don't try this at home

I made the mistake of trying this game. Someone that commented on a blog I was reading had a link to it. I should know better. I spent too much time on it when I had other things to do. My top score was 1808. I'm sure someone else can top that. I got a lot of 982's in the process, from lining them all up the same way, the domino effect. Think exponential not domino, for a higher score. No more for me!

More on Bottles, and Snow?

I spent my Saturday afternoon on the phone trying to get everyone on the same page for an informal team dinner before WORS starts. I had started on it a while ago but it's next to impossible to find a night when everyone is free, not to mention the fact that we live all over the place. We got together last night, and had a decent turnout. Some teammates spent Sunday doing trail work up at the Lake Geneva course. Or so they thought! When they got there they ended up digging out giant snowdrifts. Unfortunately they did not get any pics. I can only use my imagination on shoveling huge piles of snow at the end of April.

Fran, Wendy and DJ after dinner. Fran is having her baby next week!

Even Velo-News is writing about the water bottles now. In the May 5 print edition there is an article on toxic water bottles on p. 30. In a nutshell, most cycling water bottles are No. 4 plastic. (look on the bottom of the bottle) which is apparently less toxic. The chemicals currently coming under fire as being toxic in new studies are found in bottles made of plastics No. 3, 6, and 7. My Nalgene and Camelback bottles say No 7 on the bottom. However, both of those companies are now making bottles that don't use the BPA chemicals.

I remember a few years ago being told not to use cycling water bottles (No 4) which were thought to leach chemicals. I think it might have been phtlates (sp?) that were in them but I really can't remember. Now they seem to be considered safer than the old ''safe" bottles. In the same issue, on page 99, they suggest the Camelback Podium bottle, the gel-Bot, and the plain old standard cycling water bottle, which are mostly made by Specialized. (You probably have like 30 of them.)

And here's an old school bmx pic of mountain bike legend Johnny T on the Tomac bikes blog. It was probably taken when he was a kid growing up in Michigan.

Rock Cut Pics

I downloaded the Rock Cut pics so the people who have been waiting all week (Ben and Julie) could see them ... and I'm having problems with them. When I upgraded to Leopard I got a surprise - my iPhoto no longer works. I can't even open it to see my previous photos. Sooo, I am going to have to get a new version of iPhoto. Here are two photos that worked not using iPhoto. Hopefully I'll figure out a workaround soon... (update: I learned how to post blog pics straight from Flickr - not the ideal way, but at least they are up)



Audrey and Julie pushed each other the entire race and got 1st and 2nd in their age group.

Ben survived the gnome attack
Originally uploaded by Velogrrl

Hiding from the gnome?
Originally uploaded by Velogrrl

Casey still had her front teeth here. Congrats to Spicyride on the strong ride, hence the trophy.
Originally uploaded by Velogrrl

Spicyride's awesome arm
Originally uploaded by Velogrrl

Tom's shirt
Originally uploaded by Velogrrl

meeting

I am hoping to make it to the CAMBR meeting tonight. Hopefully some of you will be there. It's a long trip for me during Friday rush hour, so I'll have to see how things are at the end of the day. It's been a long, busy week. I am looking forward to seeing The Collective movie "Seasons" there if I go!

And yes, all week I have been carrying a post-race post around in my head, and there are photos on the memory card...but my days have ended so late this week I just can't stay up the extra hour or two to write the post. Hopefully before the next race!!

More later, but would you ride a mt. bike that had no place for a water bottle? Do some of you? I like to keep my energy drink in water bottles and my water in a camelback. I'm not sure I could get used to not having the water bottle(s), both in short events and WEMS. I have a week to decide if I could live with this.

RIP Nalgene Bottles?

Today in the print Tribune I read that Nalgene is going to take their popular water bottles off the market and replace them with bottles that don't use BPA's. I've been reading alot lately about water bottles that leach BPA's and how they are bad for us. I think Consumer Reports had an article too this past month? It seems like all of a sudden everyone discovered this, I'm seeing articles everywhere.

This was confusing when I first read about it because for the last few years I thought we were supposed to be avoiding squeezable soft plastic bike water bottles in favor of Nalgene for drinking. I had thought the Nalgene bottles were considered to be safe, vs. our bike bottles. So which is worse? Are we now supposed to avoid both? Time and heat make the chemicals most likely to leach into the water. I fill up all my bottles, a combination of nalgene and bike-specific ones, before I leave on a bike race trip and pack them in coolers so they are ready when I need them. I know this is not the best from a health standpoint, but it's easiest for me. I am wondering what the new alternative is going to be? And also if my Britta filtered water pitcher that I drink water from every day made of the same type of bad plastic?

Now I have an excuse for being slow. It's all the water I drink out of those bottles. (just kidding!)

it's always something....

I feel the earth move....

I felt the earthquake... but I didn't realize what it was. I was wondering, what is that, the house is shaking even more (a lot more) than when a bus goes by, but it's too late (or early) for a bus...then I was wondering if maybe we were getting a thunderstorm.... it was kind of noisy and there was definitely rumbling and shaking going on. then I heard about the earthquake on tv. wierd. I actually thought maybe I heard something falling, though I don't know what it was yet. I also felt really queasy and sick for a while, which may have been somehow related?

I wonder what it was like for all the people in highrises...

now I am wide awake!!

and Wednesday night when I was out walking for exercise late in the evening, I heard growling across the street from where I was walking. I had forgotten all about the cougar(s) until that moment. then I heard the fierce growling-type noise again. I have no idea what it was, it could have been animals fighting, but all I could think about was the cougar!! it could have been a racoon, I guess, but the vision in my head was all cougar!! I walked as fast as I could to get away from that block. It was only a couple blocks away from my house!
strange week.

Cougar not a Mirage

Turns out I was behind in my news - around the time I was posting about the cougar in Wilmette, police in Roscoe Village were shooting a cougar! Is it the same one people saw in Wilmette? Who knows, but it seems likely. I admit I didn't really think there was one in Wilmette.

I was surprised to read that Goose Island Brewery's pub on Clybourn is closing at the end of the year. Their rent is going way up at the end of their lease. I guess that part is not surprising, given how the neighborhood has changed in the 15 years that they have been there. I have mostly been there for Clif event staff meetings over the last 5 or so years.

I forgot to mention earlier that Saturday night I saw a really fun local bluegrass band called the Henhouse Prowlers at the Celtic Knot. If you like bluegrass, you might want to see these guys. A friend had been telling me about them for a while. I haven't been out to hear live bluegrass in ages.

One of the band guys told me that Charlie Louvin is playing at the Heartland Cafe Wednesday night. I used to love the Louvin Brothers - old school bluegrass with amazing harmonies! If you want to see a little piece of old time traditional music history, check this guy out. He's probably in his 80's or 90's by now, I would guess?

On his website:

Charlie Louvin has released his first new album in over ten years on the New York-based Tompkins Square label.

The self-titled disc, produced by Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Calexico, Candi Staton) and Charlie Louvin, was recorded in Spring/Summer 2006 in Nashville. It features guest performances by Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, Will Oldham, Tom T. Hall, George Jones, Bobby Bare Sr., Tift Merritt, Marty Stuart, David Kilgour, and members of Bright Eyes, Lambchop, Superchunk, Blanche and Clem Snide, among others.

The album features several Louvin Brothers classics as well as country favorites first popularized by Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, the Carter Family, and the Monroe Brothers. Charlie also has included a moving tribute to his late brother Ira, with whom he formed the Louvin Brothers in 1940. (Ira Louvin died in a car accident in 1965, at age 41.)

Charlie Louvin's influence on country, alt-country, and their many sub-genres, is incalculable. The unique harmonies and lyrical folk poetry of the Louvin Brothers ("among the top duos in country music history" AllMusic.com) have inspired countless covers of their songs by such artists as Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, the Byrds, Emmylou Harris, Uncle Tupelo and the Raconteurs (with Jack White).

Cougar Sightings?

Some people in Wilmette have been reporting cougar sightings! I read about this in the print version of the Tribune. One had been spotted up in North Chicago, 20 miles away, so they are hypothesizing that it might be the same one. Having spent a lot of time snowshoeing and skiing in a Wilmette lakefront park this winter, it's hard for me to imagine a cougar lurking there... but there are probably lots of other good lurking places. It does make riding through Wilmette a little more exciting. If the potholes weren't enough to keep you on your toes.... So, cyclists riding through Wilmette, consider yourself warned!!

Happiness is...

the little things.....

Like getting my Chequamegon card in the mail today. I wish I could wave a magic wand to get entries for the many teammates and friends who didn't make it in this year.

Like getting a TEN in my horoscope, and having a message that makes me want to jump up and do all the things I have been too tired (or lazy?) to get done this winter. I can't remember the last time mine had a ten!

Sagittarius: Today is a 10. Take positive steps to make your every dream come true. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen, starting now.

My computer is in the shop and I am writing this on a newer computer, and am amazed at the extra options available for blogger in the newer browser! The menu before had like two options - spell check and upload pics. Now there are many more! It's like having a whole new Blogger.

Congrats to Gabi on getting 6th place in her first duathlon as a pro! She went to a race in Alabama this past weekend. She just got her pro triathlete license this winter.

I think it's pretty cool that CAMBR is showing a sneak preview of The Collective movie "Seasons" after the membership meeting. They hadn't announced a location when I heard about it, but I am hoping it's not too far away. I think they got this privilege due to the new mt bike park Cambr West is building in Plainfield. Support CAMBR! They put in countless hours of work on the trails and in dealing with the county to keep the trails open, etc.

Help!!

I just read about the Help line of products today. A simple way to address a headache or a cut. The band-aids sound high-tech, they are made of a "futuristic material" used in hospitals.

Unrelated to cuts and headaches, the iPhone might be getting 3G in the next 60 days. I just read about this today, but Walt Mossberg alluded to it in an interview a week ago, then later tried to backpedal. I'm not really sure if this is a big improvement unless you spend all your time in an urban area (ie. you aren't a mt. biker), but the potential of it is appealing. I'm still holding off on the iPhone anyway, at least for a little longer. I'm inching closer - they finally made it available to business accounts and I am finally going to upgrade my mac os to Leopard, so the barriers to ownership are slowly dropping away.

I read about this new dance Tecktonik (a mix of rave and breakdancing), that is big in France, so I went on YouTube to see what it's all about. it is apparently a modern version of disco. Mullets and muscle shirts are de rigeur. This video of a student named "Jey Jey" has been watched by more than 8 million people. I think it would be fun to be able to do that. There's something oddly appealing about it to me, I guess cuz I used to love to dance. Quite a work out. It would be a novel way to get in some off-season cross training, too. If that first video wasn't way too, um, disco, for you, here's another one.

Cooler by the Lake

It is official. the start of what I call "cooler by the lake" season. That is when all the weather forecasters are crowing about how it's going to hit, gasp, 65 today!! And I get all excited and keep going outside wondering where the 65 is and why it still feels cold out... oh yeah, it's another cooler by the lake day. When I went out riding in the afternoon the radio said it was 54 by the lake. By the time I got home I am guessing it was 48-51ish. I was out about 2.5 hours. The ride north was great. The ride south felt like it was into a strong wind so it wasn't quite as much fun. Yesterday was more fun, when the wind felt like it was always in my favor. My knees hurt afer riding both days so I may have overdone it a little.

I'm looking forward to my first off-road ride of the season, which will probably be Rock Cut.

The funniest thing to me both days this weekend was the wide range of clothing I saw. I saw tween girls in shorts, flip flops, and tank tops, at the same time I was noticing that my toes were getting cold in spite of my booties! I saw shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops everywhere in various combinations, even though it was 54ish. And walking down the street near the younger people wearing minimal clothes, or half summer/half spring clothes, I saw other people wearing layers, even down jackets, including one with a fake fur collar. I did see one guy riding in shorts and short sleeves, too. It's transition season, for sure.

I can see Spring at the end of the tunnel...

The weeks seem to just be flying by. I have missed so much updating - I guess I'll go backonly a week or so. Last week two good friends, Wendy (aka New Zealand Wendy) and Kristin left for India. They will be traveling for an entire month! They both have jobs where they are able to arrange that. Judging by Wendy's travelog emails, they are having a great time. In this age of cell phones, it's wierd not talking to them for so long.

I felt awful that weekend, after not enough sleep that Thursday night. No riding for me!! I dragged myself to an event at a local shop where the Moots rep gave a slide show and answered questions. I'm glad I went - it was interesting, I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a long time, and all in all had a good time. I had planned to go to the gym after but it ended too late. All weekend I felt mostly awful, but did feel better enough to decide last minute to go to a party that the skinny's team was having. I never did get the cold, though, all the weekend napping must have kept it at bay.

The week was kind of a blur. I had trouble getting in my hour on the eliptical every day at the gym - I just did the best I could. Last night I finally got in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Everything didn't hurt quite as much as usual so I made it for a little extra before closing time. It helped that I wanted to see the end of the movie I was watching. I took three bikes in for tune-ups to get ready for the season and got those back on Friday. The cross bike that I took to Nationals hadn't been ridden since then. Turned out it had a shifter issue - something must have happened to it in the terrible muddy, icy conditions that day.

I was super excited for the warmer weather we got today! And SUN! I didn't get out on the bike until late afternoon, but I had a great ride. I decided it was the perfect day to leave my "winter/rain bike" (an old 90's cross bike with touring tires) at home and break out the freshly tuned "new" (relatively) cross bike. I swapped the cross wheels for road wheels with skinny tires, put a light on the bars just in case, and it was ready to go. The shifter now worked flawlessly. I knew it would cool off and I knew it was probably colder than the radio was saying by the lake, so I still wore (as usual) alot more stuff than most of you would. I was really comfortable the whole ride and didn't get chilled as the temps got down in the low 50's/high 40's on the way home. Well, except for my toes!

The best part about the ride was how light and fast I felt compared to previous rides. The newer bike is alot lighter than the old, and being custom, felt right as soon as I got on it. For most of the ride I was going from 1 - 3 mph faster than I had been before on the older, heavier bike that doesn't fit very well. I looked at my average speed for the few rides I did in March and noticed a definite trend - the average got higher as the month went on, with a big jump when I rode the lighter bike today. I was still a little sick and still coughing when March started. I must be improving a little, though I am by no means where I'd like to be. I had been really discouraged with my glacial avg. speeds in March, so today made me feel a little better. In addition to the usual aches, some new things were hurting (what's up with that?), but it didn't matter, the ride was a great mood-lifter!

Looking forward to another great day tomorrow!!

Droolworthy?

I think these lovely cobalt wheels would look really hot on my race bike. I have not seen them in the flesh, er, aluminum, but they look sweet in the picture! Pricey though, so probably just wishful thinking. The first I had heard of them was an ad in the new VeloNews this week. They caught my eye right away.

Anyone have an opinion on whether or not they are good wheels, and are likely to be bombproof and low maintenance, from an engineering standpoint?

The Energizer Bunny Effect

Should athletes who take steroids be banned for life?

That question is posed in an interesting story titled "Cheaters Do Prosper" in the Wall Street Journal today. Researchers in Sweden have found evidence that "suggests that anyone who takes steroids, even once, may effectively be a cheater for life."

"When the researchers looked at the subjects' muscles through a microscope, they made a surprising discovery: Rather than returning to their original proportions, the muscles of the steroid users who'd stopped taking the drug looked remarkably similar to those of the subjects who were still using. They also had larger muscle fibers and more growth-inducing "myonuclei" in their muscle cells than the nonsteroid users."

"A scientific consensus on this issue may be a long way off. The Swedish study was too small to be definitive, and it's difficult (for obvious reasons) to do a large follow-up study on the effects of steroids on competitive athletes. Some studies done in the past decade have shown that while the muscles of mice grow when they are given steroids, they also shrink when the drugs are taken away. Gary Wadler, a New York University physician who consults with WADA on steroid issues, says he isn't convinced that the conclusions are accurate. "The effects of steroids are time-limited," he says."

It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future. Right now there's not enough evidence to know if it's even an issue, but if it were proven to be true, can you imagine how it would change the playing field?

Death Cab for Cutie in Millenium Park??!!

I heard on the radio today that Death Cab for Cutie is coming to Millenium Park the weekend of June 3rd!!!! (I think that was the date?). Does anyone have details on this? Is anyone going? I will have to check the race schedule to see if it conflicts with anything. It probably will, but this is one show I would love to see.

Cycling News

With racing season kicking into gear for many people, what better way to start the day today than to read Cycling News' Special Edition for the day. There are several interesting articles, including one about a new World Cup 'Cross event, to be dubbed the "Antarcticross Cup". I think 2007 Nationals were good practice for this.

But can it ride a bike?

Someone sent me an email with a link to a video about a robot called BigDog. It's pretty amazing, actually.

At first the thing seemed so creepy I thought I was going to have nightmares about it. It's like a giant mutant insect. By the end of the video I almost felt like it was a real animal - and it didn't seem quite so buglike. Though I wouldn't want to get on its bad side. If it's going to be used as a military tool, I would not want to be on the other side. If it doesn't work out for the military, I think it has a great future in sci-fi horror flicks! Can't you just see hundreds of them swarming through a field?

I think one of those would have been right at home in last year's Blue Mound WEMS race!!

Best Time Warp Wrapper Ever?

If an award existed for the best energy bar wrapper graphics, this one would get my vote. If a wrapper could take you back to a place in time, it would be this one! Fun, lighthearted, and full of puns. If nothing else, it gets Best Time Warp Wrapper. This is not for sale, it's just a fun thing they did.
Like, wow, man......

Cyclocross Magazine Cover

I got my second issue of Cyclocross Magazine today. Love the cover!! Congrats to Mr. MadCross, Dave B, for making the cover! And lots of other people we know were in the pack but didn't show up in the picture. (Tim B., JPE, etc.) Even though I have seen that pic (of the mega-crash in the ditch at the beginning of the Masters 40-44 men's race) many times, it seemed fresh all over again. It was refreshing reliving nationals again the old fashioned way, three months later in a magazine. Cross season seems so long ago, but this was like a getting a present in the mail. It came in a white envelope, which added to the excitement of opening it up and seeing what was inside. There's something more fun about reading about an event in a magazine, knowing that you were there.

I devoured most of the articles. Reading the profiles of all the age group winners was enlightening. Almost every single woman said that she doesn't work on her own bike. (whew. I wasn't expecting that, but it was kind of a relief, I don't feel so lame!) And I was surprised how long some of them warm up before a race. I do know that my warm up habits (or lack of them) need major improvement, and this backed that up. Not being a morning person, and of course, being a slowpoke getting ready, I am not one to get to a race hours beforehand. I do think my performance would improve if I spent more time warming up for the shorter races. (I don't think it really would make much difference for a WEMS race) I guess that is one reason (of many) why these people are winning national championship races and I am not!

Article about Bay Area Crash

Bob Mionske wrote an enlightening article about the recent Bay Area collision between a police cruiser and a group of cyclists. We learn about some discrepancies in the way the investigation is being handled as well as how little sleep police officers get between shifts. He has some interesting observations about the way the media portray cyclists. I wish I could have gone to his lecture at Turin at the end of February, but I had two other events to go to that night. I don't know why everyone picked that night to have their events!

Gadgets to find your Gadgets

Well, speaking of gadgets (previous post), there is an article in both the print and online Tribune today featuring some cool gadgets. Gadgets to help us find our other gadgets, such as lost USB drives, and to help us be found if we are lost. The print article is better because it shows photos of each item, but you can still get most of the info online.

One in particular, a GPS locator called the Spot satellite messenger, would help you be found if you were in the wilderness and got lost or injured. In the article he uses getting injured mt. biking in Palos as an example of a situation when you could use the Spot. (Actually, I would think at Palos you could be fine with a regular GPS and a cell phone?) This could be really handy for anyone mt biking anywhere that doesn't get a cell phone signal!

Another one is something I have many many times wished I had, especially for keys. It's the Loc8tor Lite, and at $80 it's not cheap, but might be worth it for people who waste alot of time looking for stuff! It's basically a radio receiver tag you can put on anything that you might lose track of.

Pre-installed viruses

I found this article alarming. I guess because I love gadgets and it had never occurred to me that they might come with extra "features", such as pre-installed viruses and password-stealing programs!!! Especially since I haven't tried loading pictures on the digital picture frame that I bought for my mom. I wasn't looking forward to the task before, and now I am really not!

After reading it my too-active imagination took it one step farther.... this could be a whole new type of sneaky warfare that manufacturing countries could use on nations like the U.S. that do a lot of outsourcing. Are we going to all have to have a second computer dedicated to this kind of stuff?

Awareness Ad

If you haven't already gotten an email about this or seen it on other blogs, make sure to do the test. Better yet, send the link to your non-cyclist family and friends! The first time I saw the link I didn't watch the whole thing cuz I was pressed for time. Then when I got an email about it telling me it was bike-related, I figured I'd be more patient.

In yesterday's print obituaries in the Tribune I noticed that Richard Burke, the founder of Trek Bicycles, passed away on Monday at age 73. The article said he founded Trek in a red barn in Waterloo, WI in 1976. What a journey it's been for him and his family, building a company that sells 1.5 million bicycles a year and does $700 million in sales (according to the newspaper)!

I made it out for a ride Tuesday evening with New Zealand Wendy, for about 1:45. The last half hour was in the dark. I had brought lights, but the potholes and bumps bounced my Vega front light off the bar mount at least 4 times. The roads are so rough here I have always had trouble with the Vega working it's way off the bracket and flying off - usually once or twice in a ride. This time it was really frustrating. I tried to adjust the screw that I thought was coming loose with my finger but it didn't solve the problem. I'd put it back on the mount and I'd see it wobbling over the bumps. Watching it wobble was unsettling. The last time it went flying I put it in my pocket, and we had to make do with my small blinkie in the front. It turns out that the light had totally broken away from the bracket that slides onto the handlebar mount. it doesn't seem fixable to me, but I'll have to look into it. I think having the entire unit on the bars makes it kind of top heavy, vs. units that have external batteries. But that's the beauty of it, that's it's all in one package that you can just put on your handlebar, no cords, etc.

Wednesday was an hour on the eliptical at the gym, but tonight I went out to ride for 1:35. It was so nice out! Supposedly 57 or 60 by the lake. I figured it would get cold as the sun went down, so I wore warm-ish stuff and really enjoyed not being cold at all on the ride. I discovered a new porta-potty that I didn't know about when I went a slightly different way than usual in Glencoe. It is a gross one with a big mud (I hope that's mud!) puddle outside, but sometimes you can't be picky!. At least there was T.P. Maybe I should make the Best Bathroom Map of the North Shore for female cyclists!

It has been a busy couple of weeks. Lots of fires to put out, one after another. Nothing too fun or social, for the most part, just stuff that has to be done. Lots to get done this weekend, too, but I hope things quiet down sometime next week. A party Friday night, and I think I should go to LunaFest in support of our sponsor. I still must have some flu bug left in me, cuz I still want to sleep all the time! I mean at the drop of a hat. I finally am getting rid of the cough. Finally!!

LunaFest

I received this today for LunaFest, a film festival/fundraiser, which is this Saturday. Thought I'd pass the info along.

MacBook Air stuck on the ground

I found this article, titled Steve Jobs Made Me Miss My Flight rather amusing. The author tries to take his MacBook Air on a flight and encounters some resistance from the TSA security folks.

WORS handbook

Did anyone else notice some goofy dates in the WORS Handbook? They must be typos from using the same template over and over and plugging in different race names and dates, but I bet someone is going to get confused mid-summer. I remember one year the directions in the book to a race were wrong so I ended up driving back and forth trying to find an exit that didn't exist. The Firecracker in Eau Claire, always somewhere around July 4th, is listed on one page (46) as being Sunday, May 4th, on the next page (47) as being Sunday June 22nd, and on the back cover (the correct date) as being July 6. That would be an awful lot of driving. Oops!!

I am going to Argonne National Labs for a tour in the morning (Saturday), with an alumni group. I guess we are going to meet some of the scientists and then get a tour of the facility. I never go on alumni things but this one sounded interesting.

Yummy Chair

For all you cupcake lovers out there, here is the chair for you! (I can think of at least one cupcake fan...) It comes in different colors - pink, blue and green. Unfortunately it's pretty pricey.

Cool stuff that's useful: I saw in a catalog that Keen now makes an SPD compatible riding sandal! I saw it only in women's sizes, but I have to think they make it for men as well. Could be nice for summer around town rides, maybe even commuting, depending on how well they work. My current Keen sandal soles are so wide they get in the way, especially on my mtn. bike. From past experience I know these probaably won't fit me, so if someone tries them, let us know how they work!

Brian Lopes is going to be riding for Ibis this coming year? Seems like an odd match, I would not have put those two together. Hmmm.

Useless trivia I learned today in the Tribune, although I have only made it through the Q section so far.... a bartender at a bistro on Devon in Chicago is offering the "nicotini" to his customers who smoke, so they don't have to go outside. (Chicago's ban on smoking in bars started this year). The base of the drink has nicotine in it. Also, testing the makeup of the water molecules in your hair gives clues as to what region you live in. This is likely to be helpful in crime investigations.

What a weird weather weekend. Did a little shuffling, er, skiing on Saturday at the end of the day, then went for a ride on Sunday afternoon. Almost, but not really, like being in Colorado where you can ride and play in the snow all in the same day.... The snow was crusty on Saturday so I knew it probably wasn't worth trying to go again Sunday. I saw some mt bike tracks on the trail. Not a bad idea that day, the snow was packed enough. Driving home from the forest preserve I noticed police cars blocking the entrances to Old Orchard. It looked like a reaction to some type of threat situation. Sure enough, I later heard on the radio that the mall closed early due to rumors that were circulating about a suspicious person. Sunday I got sidetracked from going on a ride, and then next thing I knew it was raining. Later the sun came out, then after that it got really gray. Finally I made it out, taking along lights in case I wanted to stay out longer. I really enjoyed being dressed for cold weather, but not feeling cold because it was so warm out! I even forgot my toe heaters and I was still ok. It must have been somewhere between 45-55.

I also went riding last Sunday. I talked to Holly K. on the phone that Sunday afternoon and she had gone riding earlier. I had planned to go to the gym but got inspired to try a ride after talking to her. It was a busier-than-usual week but I did some x-c skiing mid-week under the lights at Gilson. It was the day after a few inches of new snow (Tuesday?), and it was lovely. Bushwhacking was much more fun than staying in people's tracks, I found. Feeling the squish of the new layer of snow on top of the old....nice. Remnants of the flu have been hanging around though, besides a little cough, all I really want to do is sleep. I feel tired all the time and would be happy to just sleep all day. I hope that goes away soon! I have so much to get done and no energy to do it.

Condolences

My condolences to the family and friends of cyclist Matt M-L. who died today after being hit by a car while riding his bike in the alleycat tour da chicago. I didn't know him but did know others who were probably there in the pack this morning. I also feel badly for the driver, who, according to the evening news, was trying to avoid other cyclists in the pack and was not at fault in the accident. More info here.

Infl-eewww-enza

I feel like the flu took over a week's chunk out of my life, from last Monday to today. I am hoping to get back to the gym for cardio any day now. My cough has gone from a death-rattle to just a strangle. It sounds terrible, but at least I am no longer grabbing my stomach with each cough, trying to keep the intensely sore chest and tummy muscles from moving. I had days of chills, fever, and my skin hurt so much I didn't want to take a shower. I knew the water droplets hitting my skin would hurt. They did. My clothes felt like they were scraping against my skin. I am sure glad much of that is behind me.

Last weekend (a week ago) was fun. Friday night I went snowshoeing with New Zealand Wendy and Kristin. Turns out it was drizzling, but we stuck it out and had fun. Saturday I wanted to go try skiing at PETS for the first time, but I woke up with a headache and was really tired, so I stayed close to home. I heard lots of loud pounding going on, but kept going back to sleep, since I had stayed up late. I knew that my neighbors were taking down a wall that day. Later I went over to check out their progress. I saw a teammate's car parked behind mine, and knew that he must be over there too. I hadn't seen him in ages, it was great to catch up. I later found out that all four of the people in that room that day besides me were either sick or about to get sick! That's probably where I got my big dose of flu germs.

My friend Brian was having an impromptu party later and I realized I was running out of time to work out. I decided that it would take less time to go x-c ski for an hour on the lakefront than it would take to go to the gym for an hour on the eliptical. The ski expedition was horrible. It was dark and incredibly windy. The snow was covered with a layer of ice, kind of a crust. You could barely even see the indentations that the skiis made - it was more like sliding around sideways than settling into a groove. There really wasn't anywhere to settle - it was just slip n' slide, instead of glide. I tried going over to the campus lakefill, thinking that would have real snow and be better but instead I just worried about whether I could grab onto the fence cable in time if I slipped sideways on the ice and started to slide into the lake...it was all bumpy ice where people had walked and left behind icy footprints.

The party was fun. Brian made veggie gumbo and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a while. Dan and Susan brought their new puppy, a Puggle. Cute. Somebody pulled out a game called CatchPhrase late in the evening. I was not in the mood for a game at all, but it turned out to be really fun.

That Sunday was the 'Cross Banquet for our local series. The turnout was smaller than I expected, but I had a great time. We had a lively table - my old teammate Tim, his wife Kim, and some other folks. We were in the room next to where the awards were announced - it was hard to hear what they were saying. I missed talking to some of the people at the other tables before they left. Congrats to all of the series prizewinners!! Great job.

It ended early enough that I was able to hit the gym after and get 1:20 in on the eliptical. That exercise session has had to last me for over a week - I got sick the next day.

After that, the long feverish week.

This past weekend I got up earlier than usual for me on a Saturday and went to a meeting out in the burbs. Some decisions to be made. Then stopped by a local shop that was having an event and saw a bunch of people I knew. NZ Wendy and John wanted to go snowshoeing at the end of the day so we went to the woods. I probably shouldn't have - I felt much worse on Sunday. But the river was pretty and it was nice to get out.

Lunar Eclipse Wednesday the 20th

I got this email (below) today. Apparently the last two weeks have been very intense for a lot of people. Here is what the email suggested:

>> We are around midpoint between the 2 eclipses this month, the full moon/lunar eclipse being on Wednesday. This is a very intense time of deep healing, learning, changing, and stepping forward out of old patterns into new. It is crucial during this time to do whatever it takes to keep your vibrational level up. Use the sun, light, meditation, music, being around loved ones etc. Spiritual rewards come from the discipline of changing old habits and this is the best opportunity you will have. Put yourself first; above work or other responsibilities that have the illusion of being more important. <<


I have had the flu since last Monday. I am finally starting to feel human again, though I am still really tired. The death-rattle cough is slowly getting better. I hope to do a catch-up post later.

Tour de Groundhog

Team Mack is having a cross race near Springfield, IL this Sunday the 17th, for those of you who have been training.
Go here to download the pdf for the race.

Free Book

You can get a free download of Suze Orman's financial planning book "Women and Money" if you do it before early evening Feb. 14th. I haven't read the book so I can't comment on it.

Happy Birthday

I hope Kim S. is having a great birthday today. Happy Birthday, Kim!

Reading Chris's blog just reminded me!

Midwest press

Our IL/WI cyclists are getting some press...

A genius twist in Regina's tentative plans to (maybe) give up visiting the People.com site for lent - the site actully mentioned her plans! You said "maybe" on your blog, but now it looks like you are committed, Regina! Everyone knows and People.com is watching you! The credit for noticing that belongs to Amelia, who pointed it out in a comment on Regina's blog.

Ben was the first to notice that Jason M.'s picture (red Flatlandia jersey) from K.C. Cross Nationals in December is in the new issue of Dirt Rag, on page 13. Congrats to Jason! The article also mentions Marko LaLonde.

Tips for Becoming a Roadie

I enjoyed this article by the Fat Cyclist for mtn. bikers on "Tips for Becoming a Roadie".

And in the "Related Articles" in the box to the right, is another one titled "How to get Rid of Unwanted Fitness." I was going to read that one too, but I realized I don't need to. I already have accomplished that over the last couple of months, without reading any articles ....

Skijoring?

The Chicago Tribune's Sunday Travel section (print edition) had an article about Skijoring, which I had never heard of. The online article can be found here. The print version has a picture of a dog pulling his owner on skiis! Who do I know who could try it? I thought of Julie and the miles that she and Molly have been putting in running, then I realized that that would be cheating herself out of the marathon workouts she needs. There's no way that, say, 10 miles of skijoring could possibly replace 10 miles of marathon training. But that shouldn't stop others of you with dogs over 35 lbs. from trying it! The dog pulls the skier, who also x-c skiis at the same time. The dog is trained to obey commands that allow the pair to start and stop (well, maybe slow down, not sure they can stop!) and turn, etc. The article claims that the dogs love it and that it gives them a workout.



Who is going to give it a try and then tell us about it?

I signed up for the cross banquet. I hope some of you other bloggers are going? Should be fun.

Friday night I went for a really short snowshoe before going out. I saw this sign, which for some reason seems more ominous at night in the wintertime, even though I have no intention of going swimming! I don't think I have ever really noticed it during the day or in the summer.



Saturday I went for my second x-c ski in years, for two hours. I thought I burned lots of calories but my garmin only says 600. In two hours? On the bike setting I feel like it tells me I burned more than I did (compared with what my old garmin, an older model, used to tell me), so why on the ski setting, would it be so low? I am wondering if the little skiier on the menu is a downhill skiier and maybe I should use the "running" setting for x-c skiing, like I use for snowshoeing?



Today (Sunday) I went to a new place and did an hour of snowshoeing. It said I only burned 190 calories! I got a late start, and I wanted to stay longer - I had brought a headlamp in case it got dark when I was on the trail. It was a gray day to start with. But this was a forest preserve, not a park, and they closed the parking lots at "sunset". Apparently it is very literal - the police car was in the lot with his lights flashing and his loudspeaker long before it was what I would consider "dark". So I guess they distinguish between 'sunset" and "dark", or else the guy wanted to put up the chain and the Closed sign and go home to watch the Super Bowl! I couldn't hear what the loudspeaker was saying but could guess. He came back twice more before I left, he was making the rounds of the lots. I hope the guy on skiis that asked me which direction is north found his way back to wherever he was parked! It makes me really appreciate the lakefront park I have been going to where you can park until 10:30, and which also has lights so you can go at night. There is a well lit outdoor skating rink, and enough other lights here and there that make it a pretty good nighttime experience. The new place was a welcome change though, tromping through the snow in the woods along a river. I turned off my ipod because I felt like it was more fun without it, I had a better sense of being in the woods. It was just nice to be out there. Tranquility.







Saturday night I went to see Debbie P.'s band in Highwood, and hung with the cyclists who were there. I have only ridden my bike through Highwood, I have never seen it at night. I imagine that is the case with most of you who know where I am talking about. It is quite the hopping place - a contrast driving up dark, suburban Sheridan Road, seeing hardly any cars, then cutting over to Green Bay Road and hitting this little lively pocket where you can't even find a place to park. I made it for the last set - it was fun. I like going out to see live music and I don't get to do it nearly as much as I would like.

Oh, I went to the Lane Bryant website briefly after hearing about the tragic shootings in one of their area stores on Saturday. I'm not sure why I went, I guess I saw an ad and clicked it because it had just been in the news. Since then my email inbox page has had various banner ads for that store chain, all day Sunday. I have to think there's a connection there, between visiting the site and having the ads on my email page. They are still there.

Snowwwwww

You know there must be alot of snow when you stick your head out the door in the morning to get the papers and you can't see them! They were buried, in spite of there being a roof over the porch to deflect some of the snow. Then I saw a tiny piece of blue plastic Tribune sleeve peeking out, so I found them without too much digging.

Surreality

What a weird-feeling week it is turning out to be. Especially today. A 40 degree drop in temperature! Tonight I made it to Home Depot, finally. I was in there for much longer than I expected. It was getting a little colder when I went in, but I left my hat and gloves in the car, thinking that I didn't want to carry them around. Later, when I walked out a few minutes before they closed, there was a blizzard outside! Literally! The snow was blowing sideways at like 60 mph (well, not quite)!! The most surreal thing was, the snow was so bad that I had no idea where I was. I felt totally disoriented. I didn't recognize anything, and I had no idea where I was parked. It just seemed like I was in another world. I couldn't even see where to go to get out of the parking lot once I blew across the lot into the car. Everything was white and the wind was whooshing and I couldn't even see Mt. Trashmore and the park across the street. Once out on the street I still saw white and more white. I could not tell where the yellow line was. When I caught a glimpse of it peeking out I realized I was halfway into the other lane, oops!

I went to do some looking and research for some renovation and ended up with an informal lesson from the sales guy, based on his experience. ( I like learning this kind of stuff. ) This was in the bath department. Besides finding out what the best brands of faucets they carry are, in his opinion, I also found out which faucet styles guys choose and which ones they hate, as well as which ones women prefer. I found out what faucet the sales guy always shows moms with kids. (single handle, he says) I found out which granite vanity top colors men like, which one women always choose but men never do, which one old ladies like, and which one no one ever buys! As well as which one couples agree on as a compromise. Men prefer cabinets with knobs. Women go for handles, and drawers are a big plus. Light colors for women, dark for men. Men supposedly will tolerate a less than manly countertop and vanity if they like the faucet. Litttle old ladies like vanities with legs, so that they can clean underneath. I found out what vanities are likely to come apart and get moldy if they are right next to the shower. I pointed out that the bathroom cabinetry line that the guy said was real wood really wasn't. He hadn't realized that. Hmmm. Maybe he's not the Professor of the Bath.

I didn't realize how much bathroom trends have changed, I don't normally pay attention to that stuff. Some of the newer style sinks and cabinets are really cool looking, but not always so practical! Alot of the trendy vessel sinks don't have an overflow hole, for one thing. And the design of it really limits your counter space. I saw a really cool hammered copper vessel sink that the salespeople have nicknamed the "armadillo sink". Cuz it looks like it has scales, I guess. His impression is that alot of his customers were buying for rental apartments. The people buying for their own home spend alot more time making decisions, going to lots of different places, and might come back to the store 4 times before they decide on everything.

The bad thing is I had every intention of going straight to the gym from Home Depot - but I made the mistake of stopping at home. I never made it to the gym, unusual for me. I try to go every day, except on days that I get out for a ride.

Other out of the ordinary things - in the space of two days I got a request from a friend to photograph her artwork, and an offer from another friend to join the business that she is thinking about starting. I have been told that when your life isn't going the way you had planned (for example, being injured and having to change your focus on racing), other things present themselves. But sometimes people are too stubborn to recognize those things and take a different path.... As I said that I was not qualified for the photo job and didn't have the right equipment, and as I said I wasn't sure I had time to get involved in a new business, I wondered if these were things that were supposed to lead me in a new direction.... new-agey as that sounds.....

As for last weekend, I got to get out and play in the snow twice before the big melt. Saturday was 2 hours of snowshoeing in a lakefront park and on the beach, and Sunday was x-c skiing for 2.5 hours in the same place. I hadn't x-c skiied in years and years - I felt super ackward on my new skiis! I have had them for a while but didn't get to try them out last year. Different type of boots, bindings, and skinnier skiis, than I used to have. The old ones had metal edges and were wide for backcountry trailbreaking. I will miss that, but I won't miss waxing!! The new ones are waxless and I will probably use them a lot more because I can just grab them and go. If we get enough snow, that is. The boots are Rossignol and have zippers, which I could barely zip once they hit the ankle. Really a struggle. I know for sure that I am not ready to go skiing somewhere like Kettle that's really hilly. I have memories of struggling uphill at Kettle and being out of control on the downhills trying to turn at the bottom and miss trees!


Those crazy snowshoers....

Your next bike?

For you singlespeeders, here is your next bike!

Cool Hunting - Puma Bicycle and World Bicycle Relief

I get an email newsletter called Cool Hunting Daily about what's new and cool. I opened the January 25th issue, and the first thing I saw was an article about a new Puma urban mobility bike (customized by an artist) that they are auctioning off on Ebay to benefit World Bicycle Relief. Pretty cool.

Also, congrats to Julie on the great profile of her recent accomplishments on the Chicago Bike Racing site Friday.

(Regarding Pam spray to prevent mud from sticking, mentioned in Julie's interview, there was a also product for a while called Mud-Off that was meant to do the same thing. Does anyone remember it? I won a big spray bottle of it once at a race, which I think I still have. I carried a can of Pam to some of the races this year, but forgot to use it when it would have helped the most!)

And, thanks to Ben for his Friday blog link to a fun bike video that had me laughing every time I watched it. I sent it out to a bunch of non-blog readers and alot of them liked it too. Even if you have already seen it, watch it again and smile.

Is Blue the New Green?

An article in the Chicago Tribune's Tempo section (print edition, Thursday 1/24) discusses whether or not blue is going to overtake green as the environmental movement's new hue. A trendspotter is quoted as saying that "green is used up, played out and weighed down by associations with the "beards and sandals" activists of yesteryear." Blue, on the other hand, strikes her as fresh, distinctive and relevant.

On a different note, a friend sent me a link to a video of a police motorcycle contest. Even if you don't ride a motorcycle, you have to appreciate this guy's handling skills! I don't think he knocked over a single cone. The Police Harley he is riding probably weighs 800 lbs, but he makes it look much lighter. I had to watch this one a couple of times. (Good thing they don't use that course for the license test.) It'd be interesting to see how he'd do out on the trail on an mtb, if he had the fitness to go with the skills.

I ran across an ad for the the Police Bike Store when I googled "police Harley", looking for a pic. This site sells police bicycles and accessories. It's a whole world that I have never thought much about. Check out the police bike lights, complete with sirens! They also sell a Fuji helmet with an integrated lighting system. I wonder why there isn't a commuter version of that on the market - maybe there is? Too heavy?

Cycling on ESPN

There's a long feature on Slipstream on espn.com. Complete with witty comments from Dave Zabriskie. They are profiling Jonathan Vaughter's efforts to have a successful "clean team".

Fore

I am not a golfer. I imagine most readers aren't either. But I read that this is really fun and addictive, so I had to pass it along for those of you who need one more computer time-waster! It's called World Golf Tour. It works in a browser - you don't have to download anything. Supposedly you can play with your friends. I only have tried the tutorial. Check it out, if for no other reason than to see some refreshing greenness and sunlight on one of the coldest days of the year. You can even hear the birds chirp.

You are what you Eat

You can be one too.


(I found this link blogsurfing. M and M's are long time friends of mine!)

Like Pulling Teeth

I might have a chance to sell some stuff at a friend's table at the bike swap this weekend. I have always had a hard time parting with bike stuff, I always think I might need it. I haven't taken the time necessary to get organized and sell stuff in the past. And bikes are just hard to part with, period!! If I go to the swap it's a chance to start getting rid of stuff I thought I would use but haven't.

I have never sold anything at a swap or on ebay, and I am wondering which way would bring a better price? Most of the stuff I would sell is in brand new condition, but older, except for a few used things like suspension forks and saddles. I have used parts, too, but I really don't have time between now and Saturday to dig them out and get them cleaned up and ready to sell.

An example would be top of the line road racing clinchers that are older, but brand new in the box. If they retailed for $60ish, what can I get for them? Would I do better on Ebay or at the Swap? Craigslist? What about a set of older, but never used, shimano road racing wheels? I'm not sure if I should just keep them if I can't get a decent price, and have extra wheels. But that's the logic I have always used, leading to a crowded basement ... and mavic is working really well for me right now.

How does clothing do at a swap? Mostly new stuff that didn't fit and couldn't be returned. Are people only interested in parts or is it worth it to bring a few pieces of clothing?

At a swap, do most people have only a price on the sign, or do they add an "or best offer" on their sign?

For a whole bike, is a swap better or ebay? If it's a nice bike that might have some fans, I would think more people would see it on ebay.

There is so much stuff I dont know any more. I miss hanging out at a shop and learning from everyone there.

It boils down to, what is the best way to sell bike stuff? is it worth it to make the effort to go through everything and take some of it to the swap? The timing is not the best for me, I have other things I should be doing.

if anyone has experience with this, any comments or suggestions would be helpful!

Maybe if I do sell some stuff I can get one of those cordless inflators Julie saw in her mechanic's class. Oh, wait, that would be getting more stuff!

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Holly K.!

Congratulations

Congrats to Ben and Julie on their engagement!!

Happy New Year!

Remembering

Columnist Julie Deardorf has an article in the Q section (page 6) of the Chicago Tribune print edition today (Sunday) in rememberance of regional athletes who died in the past year. She mentions both Beth and Pieter of XXX-Athletico racing, who each died racing their bikes in 2007.

Watch this

I just got an email telling me to watch this video before it gets pulled from YouTube. I have not heard about this before, and I don't know how much truth there is to it, but it's worth watching.

It's the little things....

Like finally finding the seat pack tonight (Thurs.) that I thought I had lost at cx nationals. I couldn't figure out how I had lost it, but since it wasn't turning up anywhere I figured I must have lost it when I took it off the bike to race. I'm so glad not to have to replace the stuff that was inside, including a nice Pearl Izumi super lightweight wind vest. Now if I could just find the gloves that I misplaced on Christmas evening!

Also like the day after getting home from Nats getting a box in the mail with my new brown Fisher sweater inside! I got a large back in September because that was all they had, but it was too big. So I have been waiting for a medium.

I thought I would have lots of time this week to get stuff done, since all of my family was away except for me. It didn't work out that way at all. Which is ok, I enjoyed the Christmas meals I went to alot, but I still am behind. And I have had some wierd stomach flu-like thing. Have been feeling nauseous with stomach aches, ugh. I did get out for a ride on Christmas and Wednesday - the fresh air helped a little.

One project is figuring out how to use the digital photo frame I got my mom. I got the the one with the most memory and features, so I am hoping things go smoothly getting it loaded up with pics and working.

I tried to get a Wii, but I missed the order deadline. The store (Gamestop) had stopped taking prepaid orders the day before - they had gotten a store-wide email telling them to stop taking orders. They didn't even fill all their order slots because most people needed them before Christmas. I was mad at myself because I could have gone to the store Sunday had I known it only lasted a couple of days. They said it was the only time Nintendo had ever taken orders for them and that it wasn't likely to happen again. I asked if they could try to put my order through but the computer wouldn't take it.

I have spent way too much time and money at Best Buy in the last week. Christmas shopping is dangerous for me because I see all these things I normally wouldn't see when I am busy riding every day and going to races every weekend.

I stopped at the local snowboard/skate shop to look for stuff for my nephew. They didn't have that much stuff in stock for little kids, but I found some things. I saw one of these. Rachael has the women's version (different color scheme), and I thought it was really cool when I saw it on her. They only had one left in little kid sizes, and it's probably too big, but I had to get it. I hope he likes it. It has little monsters all over it!


Roller Coaster is having a reunion gig on Friday night in Wicker Park (today by the time you read this - it's late Thursday night now). I'm looking forward to it. I will get to see a lot of the old bike racing gang that I don't see much any more. Many of them have moved away, and many of the ones that still live here are no longer racing much, if at all. Some are back in town for the holidays. Sounds like a group of us are going out to dinner beforehand, can't wait.

Finally, the Elite Men.

Finally, I have a chance (by staying up really late) to post some pics of the Elite Men at CX Nationals.

Below is Tim Johnson, about to cross the finish line in first place!

Jonathan Page is rounding the corner (below). He and Tim Johnson were in an intense battle for first place. He ended up second. Notice how bundled up everyone is (except apparently, Page's hand, brrr). Lots of spectators were wearing coveralls, mostly brown Carhartts, to stay warm and un-muddy. This pic is worth it just for the hot pink coveralls in the background. I think Holly needs a pair of these with skulls on them!

Todd Wells, who came in third, is on one of his last laps in this pic. The riders hit this part of the course shortly after the start. While I have better pics of Todd, I thought this one gave you a good view of the park and the pond.

Tristan came in eight place. Congrats Tristan, great finish! That corner had to be a lot harder with people dabbing right in front of you and following inches behind you.

Ooops! Not everyone made it around the corner. This happened to people all over the course, all weekend long! This guy apparently isn't a fan of gloves, either.

Kevin was looking really strong and then all of a sudden he disappeared! Turns out he had bad flat karma that day, as you can see.

Ben had a terrible starting position due to his last minute upgrade (congrats!) to Cat 1. In spite of that, he raced very well and had lots of fun!

Marko LaLonde raced the elite race for his second race of the day, after winning the singlespeed race at 8 freezin'o'clock in the morning! You can see Kevin behind him here.

Alister is another local racer who tackled the elite race after racing the collegiate race earlier. Snow on the front tire here, mud everywhere else.


More pics here.

Merry Christmas!!

Fast Company

Holly has some very fast company in a cyclingnews.com gallery from the women's elite race at Cross Nationals last Sunday!!!

U23 Champs Video

Here is Bjorn Selander winning the U23 National Champs, beating Jamie Driscoll at the line. Besides making you seasick (you'll see what I mean), it gives you a good idea of the conditions all the riders faced on Saturday.

Ouch!

Thanks to Lou, here is Ryan T's crash. It is sad to watch his hopes crushed in a brief moment. This explains why we didn't see him on the podium Sunday.

Tough Girls

I was so impressed with Holly (above) for sticking it out in the brutal elite race, even though her hand was hurting from two encounters with a post on Friday. Go Holly!
Devon, winner of most area races this year, just keeps going and going...
Jen G. at the top of the stairs.
Kristin W. seems right at home here.
I think that's Sam under that balaclava!

These pics are from the women's elite race Sunday. Our regional women rock! Men will come later. These aren't as sharp as they should be, probably cuz I took multiple shots all the way up the stairs. I need to work on that. And I am sorry to say, I didn't get all of the area women this weekend. Due to the timing of my race, I didn't get any pics of the women racing on Friday afternoon. Check Madcross.org, which will have more, which will be better quality as well.

See a mud tutorial below.

The short version of my race day in pictures

The really short, short version: Survival. it was all about survival.


There was ice on everything, even the grass sticking out of the snow had ice on it! I love this pic.


There were two sets of super-slippery muddy stairs like this. The mud at the bottom of this one was like quicksand, each time it tried to suck my left shoe right off my foot! I don't know how people like this woman found the energy to shoulder their bikes up this, I sure didn't! (this is not me in the pic) This is one of many types of mud we experienced on Friday.


This is another type of mud found on the course. Wet, goopy mud. This is the last race of the day, a master's men's race.


And here the mud had turned into giant puddles! Splat! This is the same master's men's race at the end of the day.

I don't seem to have a photo of the mud that looked like rutted muddy mud but was really rutted frozen mud. That is probably good because the person in the photo would probably be lying on the ground after being bucked off their bike.

The shoes I raced in. I decided to wear my Lake winter shoes instead of my regular Sidis for various reasons, including cold, mud, and ankle support running and pushing in the treacherous frozen mud ruts. (My front wheel bumped against them alot as it flopped around in the mud, which affected my handling, so they might not have been the best choice from that standpoint.) They kept my feet dry in the puddles. I almost lost one before the stairs!!

The shoes I spectated in later that day. The tops are clean only because my pants covered them. The first few inches of the pants are covered in mud, as well. My toes froze even with toe warmers, so I switched to warmer shoes the rest of the weekend.

Time to hit the Road

It's been a fun weekend. The crazy conditions, constantly changing hour by hour, made for some challenging racing and some very interesting spectating. I don't have nearly as many photos as I had planned, mainly due to the cold, but I will get them up when I get home. It was really nice to have so many people from home to hang with throughout the weekend.

Yesterday made for an exciting day of racing! Congrats to Marko Lalonde for his stellar win in the early morning (frozen!) singlespeed race! Travis Brown, always a strong contender, got second. In the men's elite race, the intense battle between Johnson and Page ended in Johnson taking the win, with Wells in third. In the women's race Katie Compton won, of course, but Rachel Lloyd kept things interesting in her battle for second. Congrats to our area collegiate racers Devon Haskell (4th overall, and possibly 1st in her division. I am told they may have put U of C in the wrong division), Mike Sherer, and others, who did very well in the collegiate events.

It was fun to watch so many of our Il/WI racers in the elite races. I am not going to list them all now, I need to hit the road.

At breakfast this morning I heard that people were teasing last year's elite champ Ryan T. by calling him Ryan Tre-Boo-Hoo, because he gets so upset when he doesn't win. He crashed out of the elite race yesterday when someone hit him head-on when they broke the tape going the other direction and crossed over into his lane. Nasty crash. Someone at breakfast said they thought he broke his elbow. He looked like he was in one piece at the after-party, so I doubt that is true.

Thanks to Julie, Ben, Chris and Kim for treating me to my Birthday dinner on Friday night when we went out with a big group from WI and IL! That was really nice of you guys! We had a great table - dinner was lots of fun.

I hope everyone made it back safely! I hope Julie made it on time to her brother's graduation, as well.

Multiple Personalities

Greetings from Cross Nationals! We have a "moody" course this weekend. What you get one hour might be very different two hours later! Each race has had it's own unique conditions not quite like the one before of after it, as far as I can tell. Frozen, then semi-frozen, then muddy, then downright sloppy complete with small ponds...yesterday was kinda crazy. My race was a churned up rutted mud pit interspersed with frozen skinny-tire-sized ruts, with puddles in the low spots. The mud got worse and worse as thee day went on, with the 45-49 men running through huge puddles in a few places. In some spots the whole course looked like a big, goopy puddle. Steve Tilford ran away with that event, he was way off the front the whole race.

The Wisconsin juniors all did really well, and the WI/IL women all survived, with most doing well Friday. On Thursday alot of IL/WI folks did well in the B races, too. I wasn't in good shape for this race, but I survived. Which I guess is all I should expect having driven all night to get there. It was kind of all a blur. I hope to write more later if I get a chance.

Today we have snow and about 23 degrees (or lower) for the masters men's races this afternoon. A guy in the elevator said the U23 races were pretty snowy and slippery. My guess is that they had a thin layer of snow on top of frozen mud ruts. I am headed out soon to watch the men's master's races. I hope conditions improve for them.

That's it for now... gotta head out to cheer on the guys!

And then there's KC mud....

Seeing as how it's a couple of days before CX Nats, this would be a good time to revisit the many types of mud. I have a feeling many of us are about to become reacquainted with at least one grade of mud this weekend, if not more. I myself am having the hardest time getting ready - other things keep getting in the way. I am almost tempted to stay home.

Good Luck to everyone who is racing at Nats!

And for those spectating, it's going to be a blast. Bring your cowbells. And maybe your toe warmers...

Hipster Olympics

I just found about this hipster olympics video. Hilarious! Maybe someone should make one about hipster crossers. Anyone game?

IL State CX Champs

Congrats to everyone who tackled the challenging course at Montrose in the IL State Cross Championships today. (I am writing this late Sunday night.)

I woke up, and when I went outside to get the newspapers, everything was coated with a sheet of ice. I had been going back and forth about whether I should race today, having been sick for two weeks, off the bike for three, and not racing the last 4 ChiCrossCup races. I wanted to do it because it is State Champs and kind of my "local" race. I ended up not racing, but had a great day at the races anyway!! What a fun day. It was great seeing so many friends and acquaintances do well. Just great to see them, period. Fun, fun, fun.

No spectator's race report for the blog yet - I spent the evening (besides a visit to the gym for some elliptical) looking at photos to see which ones were good enough to go with the race report that goes out to the websites. The skies were so overcast that the lighting was extremely poor. I was really disappointed in the quality of the pictures - I'm not sure any of mine will end up being published.

Don't drink from hotel glasses...

ever again!
Yeeech!!

Get Ready for ......

Muddddddddddddd!