Race Guide for the technically challenged rider

The Singletrack Slowpoke's Guide to Sunday's Course, for the Technically Challenged Rider. If you are not technically challenged, don't bother to read this, it won't make sense....

After reading the reports and seeing some great pics from elite riders, I think that it is only fair to have a alternate course description for all the singletrack slowpokes out there. There have to be people besides me that would have bruises, scrapes and rookie chainring holes in their leg after riding this particular course! Just as I know that there are others who pause to muster up some courage at the drop-in to the singletrack, wondering if they will make it down in one piece! And who panic at the sight of the rock garden and the ravine. If this sounds familiar, then this is for you!

Big thanks to all the people who have been out there tirelessly working away to provide everyone with a challenging course! They have put many hours of work into this, and are constantly making changes to make it better. The elite and comp riders deserve a course that is challenging enough for them once in a while, even if the rest of us struggle a bit.

Course features are not necessarily in order. I don't remember the order that things came in. I don't have a good memory for race courses. I am really not the one who should be doing this!

You could think of the course as a test....
If you are a citizen, the start is not bad. It's climbing but not straight up the ski hill. From the back of the ski hill, there is a loose gravelly drop in to the singletrack. Do you
a) ride the sketchy drop and hope you make it in one piece?
b) try to walk down it with your bike, slip in the loose gravel, and end up sliding down on your rear end with your bike trying to escape down the hill
c) take the alternate easier route a little further down the road
I have already tried b) so you don't have to, and I would suggest that you try either a) or c) depending on which category you are racing! My teammate said it wasn't really that bad. Walking it could be worse than riding. Or take the other route. (I noticed one guy stopping to line himself up with the drop, then he paused to get up his nerve before he rode it.)

You are barrelling along, and you see two or three sandy round mound-like bumps with a bushy tree on the left. Kind of like little whoops real close to one another. Should you get off now, or see how it goes, it's just a couple after all, and they aren't that big?
a) there are several more around the tree that you can't see, get off while you can
b) no, try to ride them, get your front wheel stuck between two bumps, lose your balance, and fall over
c) ride them, thinking how much fun this course is!
d) hope that they flatten them out some and groom them before the race
I tried b, then a, and now I am hoping for d!!! if your answer was c, you shouldn't be reading this! Go upgrade!

Approaching the rock garden, you
a) panic and get off and attempt to walk through the rocks, slipping and sliding and losing your footing as you go, then freeze when you see the ravine that you are totally unprepared for
b) grit your teeth and try to ride left to right, keeping your speed and trying to be positioned to hit the ravine as you emerge
c) be really glad you are a citizen and don't have to ride it at all
d) be glad you are a sport and don't have to ride the whole thing
I can tell you that in this particular garden walking or running the bike doesn't really work. It's just too hard to keep your footing on those piles of round rocks without twisting an ankle, and then you won't be set up for the ravine/rut after it. Either b) ride it, or be glad you are a citizen and don't have to!

Up ahead are two little harmless looking skinny roots across the trail, a little off the ground, that look totally rideable. Are they?
a) they're not, they pop up and catch the knobs on your front wheel, careful!
b) awww, ride right over 'em, no problem
c) ride over 'em, but stay to the right where they are closer to the ground. or maybe lift your front wheel as you go over?
I experienced a) and I almost went flying. I don't understand the physics of it though. They look so innocent. Go for c?

People have been telling you how nasty the mud pit is. How do you get through it?
a) you never saw it, you have no idea what they were talking about. where is it?
b) you hear that it might get cut out, and you hope that's true.
either a or b works for me. I missed the turn for it, somehow.

All those Logs!!!
If you are trying to recover from a back injury,
a) pretend you are in a 'cross race and run them.
If not, b) ride those logs!

All the off camber stuff, especially the uphill off camber stuff
a) ride the uphill stuff for as long as you can last, then bail and hope for the best
b) recognize your limitations, get off, and take the opportunity to rest your aching back by walking
first lap, a. getting tired and your back needs a rest, b

Uh, those trees look really close together, thunk, aaaarrrrgggghhh!
a) cut your bars ahead of time
b) stand around in the parking lot talking about whether you should cut your bars
c) slow down to make sure your bars, cut or not, make it through without hitting the trees
d) keep your speed, look down the trail, thunk, arrrrrrrgggggghhhhh!
c worked pretty well for me. glad my bars got cut a couple of years ago! I think the Alterra intestinal course prompted me to do that. I still came awfully close though.

What should I use for the bruises?
a) arnica gel, if the skin isn't broken
b) ice
c) ibuprofen
d) ice cold beer
all of the above. you choose the order, I would do b, c, a then d.

Well, it's really late Thursday night, I must go to sleep. That's it for now. Stay safe, and enjoy the course! All that painful stuff will make us stronger. Someday. In the meantime keep lots of ice packs and bags of peas in the freezer!

Collegiate Nationals

Congrats to the NU Cycling Team for qualifying for Collegiate Nationals in Division 1, and to those on the team who went and made a strong showing there!

It sounds like there were some challenges involved, such as the 2 mile stretch of gravel which caused the number of flats to exceed the spare wheels available!

I read that Kellogg student Reed T. made the podium in 5th place in the Division 1 crit. Sounds like he is continuing in the tradition of past star Kellogg riders on the NU team, such as Jay Osborne, Chris DeKraay. and Paul Swinand.

I noticed alot of other familiar names in the results - WORS folks, 'Cross folks from both WI and IL (such as Devon H. and Megan M. from U of C, who did the ChiCross Cup series), Mike S. from the Pony Shop, and more. Great job, all!

Olympic Mountain Biking at Kettle?

A friend forwarded this to me today. His sister in law, a bike racer in Boulder, sent it to him. I'm not sure where it was originally published. (cyclingnews.com?) I know this was discussed long before Chicago got the US bid spot, and I guess it's still on the table.

I have to go to a team meeting/ride now, but you get the gist of it!


Subject: Olympic mountain biking at Kettle Moraine

Olympic mountain biking at Kettle Moraine?

Former Olympian Tom Schuler gave his support to nearby Walworth County's bid to host Olympic cycling events if Chicago is awarded the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago is up against other candidates including Rio de Janeiro, London, Tokyo, Madrid, and Prague. A selection will not be made until late 2008 or early 2009.

"Between Champaign, Illinois, the Fox Cities and Madison, there is no finer cycling than right here in Walworth County," said Schuler to the county board Tuesday according to the Gazette Extra. "That goes for mountain biking in the Kettle Moraine and road biking in Walworth County."

Schuler, who represented the US in the Olympics in 1980 for road events, was one of about 15 people supporting the county's effort to host cycling and possibly also rowing and equestrian events. The county board gave the effort unanimous support.

Fred Burkardt, development alliance executive director, predicted Olympic mountain biking at the Kettle Moraine's John Muir trails or at Alpine Valley Resort could bring in 40,000 to 50,000 people with a US$116 million economic impact.
"What Chicago lacks is our gain. We have rolling terrain in the county, whether it's the Kettle Moraine (for mountain biking), or the county roads and highways that are perfect (for road biking)," Kevin Brunner, Whitewater city manager and development alliance vice president. "If you go south of here, I don't know if you noticed, but it's kind of flat."

Kettle Moraine has hosted many mountain bike events including the US Collegiate Nationals.

Good Luck in Minnesota

I still haven't had time to write about Iola yet! In the meantime I want to wish Sara K-J of the Trek Midwest team good luck at the Maplelag race in MN this weekend! I hope she gets lots of UCI points at this race! Also, congrats on her Iola win.

Good luck to any other WORS racers who are going, as well!

Also, a *big* thanks to Sara for alot of helpful back rehab info she gave me after her race at Iola. This past month has been really rough for me, so it was good to learn about stuff no one else has told me. Her knowledge of the spine is truly impressive. I appreciate her taking the time to explain it to me when she was probably tired and hungry and wanting to change! Sara, I'll email you as soon as I can find your address - I think it's on my old computer.

CicadaFest?

I read that the cicadas are supposed to come out on May 22nd. I guess people are already seeing the young'uns emerging from the ground in forest preserves. Let's hope they don't come early! I don't know if they are only going to emerge in the Chicago area or if they will be coming out in Wisconsin too?? There may be the most spectators ever at a WORS race.... thousands of loud buzzing bugs! My overactive imagination is wondering what it would be like to be doing the Treadfest race on May 20th and riding through piles of crunchy cicadas! Not to mention having them hopping and flying all over the place, like into the holes of our helmets. Ugh.

A tooth filling fell out today. No more Tootsie Rolls for me!

iPhone

Mac fans: Looks like the iPhone will be out on June 15th. CNET had a link to the Boy Genius Report which said that all AT&T wireless retail employees could not take a vacation between June 15 and July 15 because they expect that time to be one of their biggest selling seasons ever. I'm not planning on getting one of these, but I know some people can't wait.

From the Boy Genius Report:

To: All Company Owned Retail Employees

From: [Name removed]

Subject: iPhone Launch Period

Date: May 4, 2007

As previously announced, Apple and AT&T will soon debut the iPhone,
which combines a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and
breakthrough internet communications into one small and lightweight
handheld device. The new AT&T has a multiyear, exclusive agreement to
provide U.S. service for the iPhone.

To ensure proper staffing during the product launch period, Sales personnel
planning to take approved time off are encouraged to schedule their
vacations before June 15 or after July 15 to participate in the iPhone
launch.

Previously approved vacation will be allowed where voluntary rescheduling
is not feasible

No additional vacation requests will be approved during the launch period
(6/15 – 7/15).

I want to thank you in advance for your understanding as this is likely to
be the biggest selling period we have seen in a few years.

Happy Selling,

[Name removed]

WORS Iola

Here are some of my Iola pics. I think I did more talking than picture taking. Maybe more to come.




Hayes guys Lenny, Jay and Danny after their race.


Holly, Jason, Kevin, Scott and Ken before the Elite and Comp race. Ken says he thinks Scott looks really slow in this picture.


Holly starting her first Elite WORS race!


Go, Gabi! Only one more lap!


Great job, Dana! 2nd overall and 2nd age group.


Teammate Dave on the sandy downhill.

They say love hurts...

If you love, or used to love, pro cycling, this hurts.

I just got this article in an email. It came from Cyclingnews.com. I'm sure others will be posting it as well, but if you haven't read this, here is the latest depressing news from the world of pro cycling. Ouch.

Basso confesses his involvement in Operación Puerto

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport's Valerio Piccioni, Ivan Basso has confessed his involvement in Operación Puerto to the antidoping prosecutor Ettore Torri of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). Today in Rome, CONI issued communiqué saying "Ivan Basso has largely admitted his responsibility relative to Operación Puerto and has provided the maximum collaboration to clarify the facts relative to his involvement."

Basso and his lawyer Massimo Martelli met with Torri for two hours in a legal office in the centre of Rome, where the confession of the winner of the 2006 Giro d'Italia winner came of his own accord.

The head of the Italian cycling federation Renato Di Rocco applauded Basso's decision to collaborate, telling the Gazzetta dello Sport, "Ivan has done exactly what everyone asked of Pantani, and Marco didn't do; now, we ask in the name of cycling to not leave Ivan Basso alone."

Although no further information has been released by Torri or the Italian Olympic Committee, there is speculation that Basso may receive a retroactive two-year suspension that could allow him to come back in time to ride the 2008 Giro d'Italia.

On Sunday, prior to today's announcement, Cyclingnews spoke with UCI president Pat McQuaid concerning speculation that a deal might be done between Basso and CONI. "There is no provision for a reduced sentence," he said then. "The WADA rules apply and the minimum sentence is two years, whether it is for admittance or non-admittance of an offence. The only time when you get less than two years is if you can prove it was mistaken or it was taken in foodstuffs, that kind of thing. But if you have been willingly involved in a doping activity, it is two years.

"I don't want to speculate on it [prior to such a deal being agreed - ed.], but the option is there for either the UCI or WADA to appeal to CAS."

Ivan Basso has not yet issued a statement, but a press conference is expected on Tuesday.

Rock Cut ....

was my first mountain bike race of the year...and also my first mountain bike RIDE of the year.

I didn't have time for a warm-up. I basically rode up to the line after registering and next thing I knew they said Go and we were off! I started at the very back so I had no idea who was in the race or how many women there were ahead of me. That was kind of wierd.

There was a big bottleneck early on, which I guess was a good thing since I wasn't warmed up! I was frustrated at first but then realized I wasn't ready to ride all out yet anyway. Even though I haven't been able to ride much or work out lately and am out of shape, I thought the course was really fun. I really enjoyed it. It was just right for where I am technically and fitness-wise. The open sections were great for me to gain some time and pass people. And the weather was more than you could ever ask for in April!! I did alright, considering lack of fitness, lack of sleep, etc.

My heart rate was a few beats higher than it should be in a race. That and the fact that my resting heart rate has risen to be about 10 beats above where it was at the beginning of the year makes me think I must really be out of shape.

A guy said, after the race, that it was hot out there for him today. I was stunned to hear that, I never would have called the day hot. It was nice out, but it didn't even seem that warm to me. It turns out that for this fellow, perfect race weather is 52 degrees! I really must be from another planet, because to me perfect race weather is 80-85. I know that's hotter than most people like, but anything below 75 and I'm breaking out the layers, armwarmers, etc. I'm always amazed at how few layers people wear for racing. I wish there was a way to reset my temperature tolerance, around here it would be much better to be a person who enjoys cool weather, since it's only really warm in July and August.

Congrats to Holly for her win, and to Chris S. for his age group win, and to Jason for his medal (not sure which place). Lucky Renee, she won the Garmin 305 that I had my eye on in the raffle. Lucky raffle number 653 takes the Garmin! Supposedly the new Garmins just started coming with Mac software. I have never been able to download stuff from my Forerunner 301. If I upgrade to a newer version of OS X. I will be able to.

It was great to see people I hadn't seen in quite a while. Quite a few WORS people, only a few of whom I got to talk to.

I haven't been able to get my printer to recognize the memory card or I would post a couple of photos from Sunday. maybe later.

Kayaks and Karoake

Fun weekend. Rock Cut and New Zealand Wendy's birthday party. Birthday first, Rock later.

New Zealand Wendy pulled off quiite a birthday party! She wanted to pattern it after the Amazing Race. We met up at the boat launch at the Skokie Lagoons at 7 pm Friday. Some of us, including me, couldn't get there until later. We each were on a team of three people. Two members of the team had to kayak across the lagoons to find a birdhouse that had a message in it telling us what to do next. She had rounded up enough kayaks and gear to be able to do this! So, once our kayaker came back with the message, we were given the address of a nearby house that we had to find. Luckily one friend, Craig, on my team had grown up around there and knew exactly where the street was. I would have had no idea - and Wendy had told me I didn't need my GPS! Unfortunately we each were in our own car, and we couldn't leave our cars in that lot after dark.

Once there, we had to say a phrase at the front door, at which point the guy came out of the house and took a picture of one of us (me, in this case) with a hula hoop, using our own camera so we would have proof Then he gave us a needle, thread, and button, which we were supposed to sew on the handkerchief or bandanna that we had been told to bring along. I couldn't see well enough in the dim outside light to thread the needle. I dropped it the first time and had to ask for another needle. I wasn't expecting to know the guy who owned the house - it turned out to be a bike shop owner I hadn't seen in years! What a good sport he was to do this. Then he gave us our next clue. It was referred to as the lemon squeezer by the lake... which of course is the Bahai temple. So we went to the temple and had to search around for the hidden clue. The janitor was busy sweeping - I asked him if he had found any clues! He said he had just started. Lucky us, or the clue could have ended up in the trash. I kind of felt like I shouldn't be walking around this magnificent, hushed, house of worship looking for clues... luckily there were only a couple of people sitting in there.

The next clue was to go ask for the movie Great Outdoors at the Video Adventure store. Dan and Craig stopped off at Dan's to drop off his car while I tried to get to the Video Store before Brian and his team. We were all well ahead of him, but he caught up to us at Central Street. I took Chicago and he took Sheridan - I made good time but got tripped up by a light by the Firehouse. Had I been more aggressive about getting through the yellow light, I would have gotten there first. Brian, Kris and Kristen got to the movie first - inside the plastic box was the clue! I got to it as they were reading the clue. I later found out that Brian had called ahead and tried to reserve the movie! The staff said they wouldn't help him cheat....! They headed over to Northwestern ahead of us while I waited for Craig and Dan. Then we headed over to Norris Center at NU to look at the Roommates Wanted board to get the next clue! I was the only one in oour group who knew where that was, so it worked out fine.

The next clue was to go to the Heartland Restaurant and take a team picture in the photo booth. That was our opportunity to drop off my car at my house before going to the restaurant. Finally our team was all together. We saw Brian's car in the lot, so we knew they beat us there. We hadn't seen the third team in quite a while. When we got to the bar at Heartland, some other people met up with us and we had a few drinks before the next stop.

The next stop was a place we only had the address of. I knew what it was going to be, but I don't think most of the others did. It was a Korean Karoake Bar! I have never, ever been to a karoake bar before! I always used to think they were stupid, but for some reason it sounds alot more fun than it used to. Maybe it was being able to do it with a small group of friends instead of a bar full of people?? My only brush with karoake was at the 2005 WORS banquet when some people did karoake after the banquet. I was way too shy to do it at that point, in front of people I didn't know very well.

There were alot of us packed into a private karoake room. I think the whole place is private rooms, which seems like a great idea to me! I think it made even the shyest comfortable enough to belt out a few tunes. Wendy called me tonight and said they (not sure which "they" that would be) decided that I was the karoake queen - apparently I was the biggest surprise. I guess that's good - I never sing in public cuz I don't think I sing very well - I can never tell whether I am staying on pitch... but it was nice to hear that I wasn't terrible! I guess my friends have never seen the closet wanna-be musician/rock star side of me - they only know the bike racer wanna-be side! I have been obsessed with bikes and bike racing culture for so long, I forget that once upon a time I was also obsessed with music.....

Anyway, we stayed for hours and it was really fun. I realized my taste in music is a little different than the group's - some of the songs I picked no one had heard of, but everyone was fairly patient with other people's choices. We never really ended up eating dinner cuz the food options at the karoake place were expensive and fried, fried and more fried. I was so fired up about karoake when I got home, I stayed up way too late going through iTunes on my computer playing songs.... silly, huh?

It's here!

It's here, it's here! The 24 Solo DVD finally came in the mail. I can't wait to see it! I may not have time until Saturday, though more likely I'll probably end up staying up really late some night to watch it before then.

Pain and the Brain

Someone recently gave me some reading material about pain. Being injured, I have been reading it to learn more about how the nervous system works.

I have noticed several people, in their blogs, talk about riding so hard in a race or ride they end up puking.

(Not to mention a video of someone chugging a whole 32 oz bottle of a certain orange flavored antioxident energy drink all at once....that brings on it's own very special kind of pain, apparently!!)

Anyway, I thought I'd quote a few paragraphs from the stuff I have been reading.

"in persistent pain, when the alarm system and brain are sensitized, all of these fears can help maintain the pain by activating those pain ignition modes - and set the orchestra up to play the pain tune. Remember that the brain wants to protect you from anything that is dangerous."

"So, hurt does not always equal harm. Simply by reminding yourself of this each time you are in pain can help reset this system..."

"When the central nervous system gets really desperate to prevent you from damaging yourself, it can paralyze your muscles (called "spinal shock" - it does go away) or make you faint, vomit, pass out, whatever it has to do."

So I wonder if that protective response is what is going on in the body when people sprint so hard for the finish line they vomit?

Messenger Video, and "World of WORS"?

Here is a link for a video about a NYC bike messenger race.

I wonder if anyone has ever come up with a video game where bike messengers dodge hazards to see who can get the delivery there first. I don't know much about video games - for all I know there could be several like that out there.

There could be a WORS video game too. How about "World of WORS"? "World of WORS-craft"? You could have a lot of fun making up things to find in the woods that could make you go faster, and various ways to beat your opponents.

Also, could you put the WORS courses on a Computrainer and preride from home? I don't have a Computrainer to know if it would work.

What if someone made a HelmetCam video of each course and put it on DVD? Or better yet, walked it and videotaped it? Do the courses change too much from year to year for that to work? Those of us that don't get to preride might like that. maybe this kind of stuff already exists and I don't know it?

Tour de Georgia Video

For live Tour de Georgia video coverage on the web, go here and click on the AT&T Tour Tracker Link.

Not everyone is training....

Here's a link to a silly music video that I received today.... I have never heard of her before.... apparently not everyone is training for racing season!!

(thanks to Gil for the video link.)

Ride your bike to the grocery store....

For Earth Week, my local Wild Oats grocery store is offering 10% off your groceries if you ride your bike to the store, starting today. Just show them your helmet when you check out. I don't know if every Wild Oats store has this, but if you live near one, check it out.

Paris Roubaix coverage is on tv right now..... looks like way too nice a day for this race! (Unlike the unfortunate folks at Sea Otter....) Ooops, there's a big pile-up! Ouch.

Olympics in Chicago?

Wow, Chicago just won the race over L.A. to be the U.S. bidder for the 2016 Olympics a few minutes ago. 2016 seems so far away. If it actually works out, just think of the racing we will get to see here in the Midwest!

Tax Deductible Eating and the Cargo Bike Movement

I read an article in the Chicago Tribune (paper version) Thursday about the cargo bike movement. I started hearing more about these when I stopped by an old friend's framebuilding shop in Seattle last year. A former messenger and bike mechanic in Chicago, he had been building cargo bikes in Seattle for quite a while. I've been wanting to convert one of my old mt bikes into some type of cargo bike for commuting and grocerying for a couple of years, but haven't gotten around to it.

At the end of the article was something I found amusing (see below). There has got to be a way for hungry racers to take the same idea and make it work for them!!

"Alan Wayne Scott, 57, a bike messenger in Toronto, is also an important figure in the cargo bike movement. After realizing that as a bike messenger he was eating three times as much as he was used to, he wanted to deduct food costs from his taxes the way an automobile driver deducts the cost of gas. Scott fought for many years in the Canadian courts until, in the late 1990's, the Canadian government agreed to allow the deductions."

Don't leave food in your car in bear country.....

As I'm writing this, there is a Pimp My Ride episode on where a outdoorsy girl is showing where a bear attacked her car in the San Bernadino mountains. He opened the door and got inside in search of the food she had in the car, accidentally locked himself inside, tore up the inside trying to get out, and then pooped in it! They showed what looked like a ripped open bag of cheetos and a Clif bar wrapper on the seat. There are claw marks everywhere on the outside, and the inside is really trashed. He tore off door panels, etc. She said that when the sun heats up the car the poop smell reappears. ugh. I guess she is going to be ecstatic to have her ride Pimped and De-Pooped!!!

I'm glad there aren't bears at Kettle after seeing that car.... we'd all be in trouble!

Now they are fixing up the car and are showing a hammock that pops out of the trunk for when she goes camping. It looks like the paint job is going to include giant stylized bear claw scrape marks on the hood and sides of the car.

Anyway, last weekend I worked the Clif booth at the Shamrock Shuffle expo Friday night. There were alot of shufflers shuffling by at the expo, but not as many as I expected, given that 30,000 people had to pick up their registration packets Friday or Saturday. Maybe the rain kept people away. The people watching was ok. The Potbelly booth had a roulette wheel where you could win different thing, such as free sandwiches or Potbelly items. The enthusiasm of the women running the booth made it fun and made it not so bad to wait in line - they cheered everytime someone won something. I got a handy Nalgene-type water bottle the first time. I was trying to win the lettuce head-shaped stress ball (there was something strangely appealing about it, all green and squishy), so I had to go back and try again later. She made sure I hit the "stress ball" on the roulette wheel the second time around, with a little "help". I also filled out a survey to get Saturn cowbells which will be ideal for 'cross season next year. I don't think the woman doing the surveys had any idea what the cowbells were for, until I tried to explain it. It probably still sounded kinda strange.

Last Sunday I went to see the Parkside race. I got up in time to make it to the afternoon races. Another nice day! Almost perfect. Two out of three amazing days for the parkside series this year. Lucky racers. I heard the women's field was big, would have liked to have seen that one. I didn't see as many familiar faces at this one, but it was nice to catch up with the friends that were there. Congrats to Chris S. on getting second in the Masters 30+ race and then going back out there and doing well in the 1,2's as well. I was sorry to hear about Kim's grandmother. My condolences to both of them. I'm sure the last couple of weeks have been tough.

I shipped a box of goodies off to my little nephew and brother in law for their birthdays. It took a couple of hours to wrap everything and draw cool little pics on the labels of each present. The pictures I drew on the labels give a little hint at what's inside, without being too obvious.

Last night NZ Wendy had a game party at her house. The people that hadn't seen the slides of her Africa trip got there early. The rest of us got there later, and ended up playing a game called Rigamarole. It was fun, but no one was really that into playing games. Most of us hadn't seen each other in a while and wanted to talk. We were like an unruly class who wasn't paying attention to the teacher. She had to keep reminding us to focus. It was a pretty fun game, though. Examples of stuff we had to do by drawing cards in different categories: count the number of tatoos on everyone on your team and win the corresponding number of points, sing the first couple of verses of the star spangled banner (I can't do that but we found out who was a good singer!), compare the number of piercings one team has vs the other to see who has more, read the ingredients label of a food to the members of the other team while they have their eyes closed and make them guess what food it is. (I completely stumped the other team by reading the label of a bag of Clif Shot Blocks! Not even the rustling of the bag gave it away!) Wendy is taking guitar lessons, so at the end of the evening she ended up reading the words to the songs she was learning and we tried to guess what the songs were without hearing the music.

I have been trying to study for a continuing ed test but it's been really hard to put everything else aside and concentrate on it. The phone keeps ringing, for one. I am hoping tomorrow I can do that.... I've just had too much other stuff to get done lately. Gotta work on the taxes too.

Some people are going on a riding trip on the trails near St Louis next weekend - I really wanted to go, but being injured, it's probably a really bad idea. And I have so much to get done in the next two weeks. I don't think I'll be able to go. Which is too bad. With racing every weekend during the season I don't end up going on fun trips like that. Next year, I guess.

I really liked Gina G.'s performance of "I'll Stand by You" on AI this week. She's the rockingest female on the show - a good thing. I also thought her cover of "Call Me When You're Sober" was better than the Evanescence version. I hope she hangs in there, partly because I like her spirit, because she's from around here, and because she used to be in former teammate Lisa K's band Catfight.

Good luck to Holly K. in her first expert race in AZ at the NMBS race this weekend! I hope it went well.

Happy Birthday to Carlos!

Interchangeable?

This page about Lance's Ladies gave me a chuckle today. Thanks to June for the link!

I don't like the new Blogger very much so far. I just recently switched, because they forced me to. Doing a link now means going to the help page every time, since I haven't memorized it yet and my old posts no longer show the HTML characters for me to copy. Why did they make it so you can't see the HTML when you go to edit a post? Argggh. I know I don't really know how to do this yet, I'm a total newbie, but why not keep it easy for people? I don't have an icon on my post page for links, but apparently some people do, judging by the Help page. All I have is spell check and an icon for photos. Is it because I am using Safari? I used to just be able to go to an old post and copy and paste the characters needed to do a link.

I really wish I were going to the NMBS #1 in Arizona next weekend. A few days in the desert would be perfect right now!

I had a great time catching up with people I hadn't seen since Sheboygan at the first Parkside race a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day in the sun. I went to watch a friend do her first crit, though ironically she got there late and missed the race. Since I was already there, I stayed most of the day and saw lots of familiar faces. I didn't make it last weekend, I had too much other stuff to do, and it was cold anyway. If it's nice on Sunday, I'll be headed back.