Are there any chiropractors who would like to sponsor me?

No matter how cold it is outside you can't keep him out of the water.
If I look less than thrilled in my self portrait here it's because I just messed up my back throwing a stick for the dog.

The Truckee River.

He's getting in too good of shape from all the 3 hour MTB rides he's been going on. Can't wear this dog out.

Had a good weekend. I was planning on heading down to Chico on Sunday for the Tour of the Unknown Valley century. It's something I try to do every year, since it's so beautiful down there in March and I can usually drag my dad along. Well, weather forecast was for torrential downpours and gale force winds on Sunday, so I went down on Saturday instead. Did a nice long, hard ride with my pops and friends from Bend and Chico. Went out for food - ate an enormous burrito and a great margarita. Mmmm . . . salt. Drove home that night, then got up early (ish) to beat the rain yesterday. Got in a coupla hours in the wind, and the first rain drops just started to fall as I rolled up to my house. Overall a good weekend.

I took the doggy for a walk by the river this morning. It rained overnight and everything just smelled so good out. There's something so distinctive about the smell of rain in the desert. Or, high desert I guess. It's the sandy soil, sage brush, rabbit brush, and the sweet smell of the willows that grow next to the river. Add to that the birds chatting up above and I feel like moving out into the boondocks and living in a tent. I have a friend who lived in a teepee in Bozeman, MT for 2 years, even during the winter! He's a little . . . different, but seriously, how perfect is it to wake up and hear the river and the birds? I need to go camping.

I managed to totally mess up my back this morning. I'm not sure if it was throwing a stick for Riley or what, but right now it hurts to take deep breaths and I can't turn my head without wimpering like a wus. Ow. I'm working on getting some health insurance, then I'm going to the chiropractor.

Well, that's about all I've got. Excited to go race Menlo Park next weekend! Figure I'll be stuck on my trainer all week, what with the predicted snow and all, but springtime is growning nearer and it's hard to be too upset about a last little burst of winter weather.

Big Bertha

This is my enormous bike. 7" of rear travel, Totem Solo Air fork, 1x9 gearing w/ a chain guide system. Ridiculous. But oh so fun. I'm not into assigning gender or names to bikes. Don't get me wrong, I love my bikes like people, but to me they're nameless, androgenous people, albeit lovable. But I think this bike is Big Bertha. Not very original, but it seems to fit pretty well. And that, of course, makes it a "she". I've been doing my recovery rides on this bike (still can't bring myself to call it "her"), it's as much recovery for the brain as the body, maybe more so. And I've been riding some of the rockier, sketchier downhill trails on Peavine, and truly, it's like the bike rides itself. I just have to point and shoot, and I make it through, not only in one piece, but looking pretty much like a bad ass, if I may say so myself. Holy crap it's fun. Can't wait for North Star to open up this summer.



Unfortunately I think today is a roller day. Now I have to go take a chemistry exam that I am so bloody unprepared for that I'm not even sure why I'm going. Oh well, it's just school, right? It's not like it's something important, like bike racing. ;)

Snell no.

Soooooo, I'm still healthy! After three days in a row of gnar-gnar intervals that's not always the case, so, hooray! 4 hours with lots of hard stuff today. Nice substitute for Snelling. I had such a lousy race at Snelling the first time I did it (last year) that it's gonna take some convincing for me to go back there, er, ever.

The last couple of pay checks I've waited a week to deposit. It makes the time elapsed between checks seem shorter. It's nice.

I'm hoping hoping hoping the rain holds off until tomorrow afternoon so I can go ride my MTB! I'm also hoping to hear about everyone's awesome race at Snelling today! Come on, ladies, race reports! Sorry, I know you all have better stuff to do than satisfy my impatient curiosity. :)

Back to the land of the living.

Sheesh, I sure picked a great weekend to come down with avian influenza. Okay okay, too sick to race? How about watching Tour of California? Nope, sorry, sitting around in the rain (or sitting, period) would have done me in this weekend. From Thurday-Sunday I was out of commission with some awful thing that possessed my throat and proceeded to kick the rest of my body's ass. I laid in bed, slept about 15 hrs a day, and watched lots of movies.
But today! I cleaned house, did laundry, ran some errands, and rode my rollers for 30 minutes! You can imagine how much better I am feeling about life to get off that damned couch finally. And what's 5 days off the bike? My fitness will be back in no time! (See, Mare? That's optimism! I could learn something from myself.) And I have 3 weeks until the next race, so I'm feeling pretty good about life, although the feeling is a little forced.

So, I can't pick a blog template. I'm boring, I just like the blue one, but that's so . . . boring. Blahhh . . . I need new pictures, or something . . .

More crap.

So, woke up last night with a gnarly sore throat and a fever and just general all-over feeling of complete crappiness. I have this pathological fear of Mono, so I went to the doctor this AM. I don't have Mono, and I don't have Strep. It's just the beginning stages of a cold or the flu(hopefully the former). But as it stands, my awesome weekend of bike racing is totally up in the air at this point. Crap.

Sick of this crap.

For the last, oh, 2 weeks now I've been trying so hard to not get sick. I'll feel good one day, ride my bike, then feel that tingle of unwellness the next day and rest. So I'm getting my training in, but each ride has been separated by a day off the bike, and that pretty much sucks. I HATE WINTER!!! This is pretty much the story of my life when it's cold outside. It's so hard to stay warm 24 hours a day. But, in the interest of physical and mental wellness I've cut back my hours at work, so maybe that will help.

I got in a really quality ride (on the trainer) yesterday and felt pretty good all day. Then today, well, I have a sore throat severe enough to create a lot of concern and keep me off the bike. This is the closest I've felt to a full on illness so I'm trying to be super careful to be well for this weekend! Crap.

Why does this happen?! I take care of myself! I eat well! I take a multi vitamin, get plenty of protein and fluids and eat my 5 fruits and veggies a day! I wear long underwear and bundle up to an absurd degree! I go to bed by 10 at the latest every night! I drink pickle juice, and apple cider vinegar, and tea and orange juice! WTF?! What am I doing wrong, Body? Please tell me, I swear this time will be different! I can change! I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong, here!

Crap.

^^^Falling Rock^^^
Cody got a shiny new road bike>

False summit on Geiger Grade - freaking cold.

Cold.

Wild horsey! Where are all his friends?

So, nothing much to report. I didn't go to Cherry Pie this weekend for a plethora of reasons. Weather, health, time, car problems, school work up to my eye balls. 'Course, I didn't do any school work this weekend, but I did work on my car, get lots of rest, and get in one good ride.

School is kicking my ass. And it's not like I really have much homework or anything, I just spend so many damn hours of the day IN CLASS. I'm going to cut back my work a little bit, so I have a little more time for my brain to relax. I've decided to take an extra semester to finish school because if I have another one like this I'll most definitely shoot myself. Okay, maybe not shoot myself, but curl up in a little ball and never leave the house. I don't do well when I'm overwhelmed.

Okay, well, my doggie is asking to go for a walk, so I'm going to brave the howling winds and icy cold and go to the dog park. Then it's work, chem lab, bio lab, bio lecture, and then home, finally, at 9 tonight. But next weekend holds lots of racing to look forward to, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the weather dries out a bit!