Winter Goings-On

So, as usual, the racing winds down and so do my blog posts. Cause, well, that's the most interesting thing I do! But I think it is time for a mundane update.

School wound down okay, and I actually got really good grades. Suuuuper happy that I decided to not take the Wintermester class that I was thinking about. I need a break! So mostly it's just be lots of training, and lots of eating, too, which ain't such a bad thing, really. Except, yeah, I got sick on Thursday night, lame. Not super sick, but sick enough that I want to lay low and make sure I don't end up with some gnarly flu or something. So a few days off the bike, and then right back to it! Not bad timing, exactly, since the weather hasn't been conducive to outdoor bike riding, and I'm running out of movies to watch on the trainer.

Cody's back in MA. The novelty of having the house to myself wears off surprisingly quick and then I start really wishing he'd come back. He's just gone for a couple of weeks, tho, so no biggy. I'll be busy between now and then. And at the end of it all I have the Velo Bella training camp to look forward to! I almost didn't go, since it's a good 7 hour drive, but I think it'll be great riding and lots of fun to see the team, and maybe meet some new teammates, too. Sadly, school starts the day after I get back.

I think it's time for New Years resolutions, which I think are kinda stupid, but which I seem to make anyway, every year. This year's? Cut out the white sugar, except when I'm biking and I'm drinking Cytomax or eating Gu or whatever. I've preemptively started on this resolution and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I've also started drinking a shot of apple cider vinegar each day. It's truly vile, but I've heard from so many people who say it really helps their immunity and digestion. That's not a resolution, tho, I'm just giving it a try. I guess my New Year's resolution is just to be healthier all over. Physically and mentally, and especially in my relations to others. Maybe that's just the part of me, a part that we all have, hoping to be a better person. Blah blah blah, sappy, yeah, I'm done with it.

Here's some pictures from our rainy and freezing and soaking wet ride on Auburn last sunday. It was soooo much fun! Except for the cold. For once, Cody was colder than me! Unheard of!

After the ride, putting muddy bikes on the car.

Muddy legs - I think Cody was colder because he didn't have shoe covers.

Awesomely epic singletrack.

Happy.

Kittays

So, I'm pretty boring, so I'm gonna blog about my cats. Yesterday Cody spilled a bunch of cat nip on the floor and they pretty much freaked out. In the top picture you can see them getting all silly eating it (oh, just for reference, the orange one is Little Bit and the grey one is Big Kitty - sweet names, huh?). And then on the bottom one you'll see Little Big rolling around in it being all agro and cracked out. Coincidentally you also get a nice view of my pink Schwalbe Ultremo tires.

Lots of riding, but none interesting enough to talk about. Well, I did some long easy-ish hill interevals yesterday morning up Geigar Grade. It was about 23 degrees out (that's farenheit, folks) so I pretty much thought I was going to die. Like, the sweat on my neck froze solid. Or that's what it felt like anyway. And NOAA is calling for snow alllll weekend. I guess that's winter! Even though it's not yet . . .

Nothin' New

Yep. Uh huh. Pretty much.

That about sums up the excitement level of life right now. I've been getting lots of base miles in, no cyclocross racing, no travelling, lots of work, work, school, school, work more, still can't pay rent. But not this weekend! No, this weekend I'm getting the hell out of Reno! I'm going to San Francisco to visit with my very bestest friend Lindsay. I'm going to make her come with me to the Sheila Moon warehouse sale in Oakland, where I will further inhibit my ability to pay rent. Then, I dunno, food an drinks, and some riding townies around GGP on Sunday. No cross racing for me! Nope! Because on Monday I'm going to Whole Athlete in Marin for my MSS test (the real reason why I have no rent money) and I'm supposed to be rested. Yep, I hired a coach. But the real question is going to be - can I train lots (enough to justify my $150/mo coaching bill) and race my bike and work and volunteer at a convalescent hospital cooking meals once a week and pass the 17 credits that I'm currently enrolled in for next semester??? That, my friends, is the $64,000 question. I'm no overacheiver, and I'm definitely not so good at keeping the balance, so this will indeed by a challenge. Honestly I'm not sure I'd be taking this many credits but they're threatening a 50% tuition increase next year so I really want to get done!!! Hopefully my Genetics class isn't as hard as it sounds, because I have a feeling A&P will be even worse than I'm expecting.

In other news . . . uhhh, I have no other news. No pictures, no funny anecdotes, nothing. I think I'll take the dog for a walk, then ride my bike to school, then work. Tonight I'll pack my shizit in my car, and tomorrow I'm off! Sans doggy, sadly, but the kitty at Lindsay's house thought he was going to eat Riley for dinner the last time I was in SF, so I think it's best if I leave him in Cody's care.

But never fear! Next weekend I am racing 'cross, and I will surely write a highly entertaining report shortly thereafter.

NPR and Coffee

Yep, that pretty much sums up my morning! I didn't get sh*t done this weekend, other than ride, since I was pretty much pooped when I got home from my long rides. Yep, I'm basetraining in November. For a race in . . . May? Jeez, what a dork.

So I'm skipping my morning class (bummer, since it's pretty much my favorite class!) to do laundry and try to bring some order to my life/house/self.

And I spent so much time on my bike this weekend because I bit the bullet and hired a coach! Lisa Hunt at Whole Athlete. I'm going down there in a couple of weeks to get all set-up and meet her and chit chat and whatever else it is they do there. I'm currently giving plasma to be able to afford it. Haha, no, not yet, but we'll see! I am selling a bike - my first road bike, too! Sniff sniff, ah, the centuries I've ridden on that bike . . . Wildflower, Death Ride . . . uhh, a couple others, too. But seriously, this coaching thing? I'm super stoked on it and feeling like it's probably the best thing I've ever done for myself. So yay!

Lazy Saturday Morning.

I have teammates at the USGP in New Jersey, at Hellyer, and tonight racing night 'cross at Sierra Point. Uhhh, I'm not doing any of that. Woke up, went out to breakfast with my mom, did a little shopping, and now I think I'm going to go take a nap. So, I feel kinda lame, but at the same time just soooo happy to have a day off from life. Anyways, between the kitties and the doggy and the bed-hog that sleeps next to me I didn't get enough sleep last night. Later maybe a nice bike ride on this beautiful sunny Saturday in November, I'm thinking maybe a nice climb up Geigar Grade. Tomorrow I have a super duper ladies' group ride with some of Reno's finest, so that's fun. Uhhh, I think that's all. Maybe a little bike maintence, a little homework, and I'm seriously thinking of cooking a quiche for dinner. Either that or sushi, since I haven't been out for sushi for like, 2 years, and I've been getting a craving for it.

I'm throwing this picture up because I just found it on my camara from Cross Vegas and I think it's actually kind of cool, even though it's just got some random dude in it.

Racey reports

Whew. My legs still hurt from this weekend.

Saturday was a local Sagebrush series race, although it was a lot different than usual because it was an NCNCA cup race. What that meant for me was that I wouldn't be the only women's A, and we wouldn't be racing with the boys. Of course, it takes a pretty die-hard 'crosser to drive over to Reno for a race (in the snow and what not) so the five women who showed up to race A's were pretty much hella fast. Stella Carey, Kathleen and Mary Ann (who ride for Hunter) and Sarah Piccolo. I raced with Sarah last year at the first Sagebrush race of the year held up at North Star, and I actually beat her by like, 6". This time I was lucky to be hanging to her wheel for the first 4 laps. Stella pretty much rode away from everyone immediately, the Hunter girls were together and just a little ways ahead of me and Sarah, who kept dropping me over the barriers and on the gnar run-up. Like, I've been running lately, why do I suck so much at it in races??? Maybe I'm just not suffering enough. Right. Anyway, I was actually pretty stoked with the race because: A. It was a hellla fun course, and B. I actually had those Hunter girls in my sights for the first couple of laps, plus I hung with Sarah for quite a while. So I was DFL, but okay with that, because I beat all the masters and B's. Haha, yeah, way to go, Mare. Anyway, aftewards I actually set up my trainer to cool down while watching the guys race. I'm not usually that diciplined. Weird.

Warming up. Happy, before the pain.

Sweet panoramic shot, courtesy of Nicholas Connolly.

Me, hanging on for dear life.

After the race on Saturday I drove down to my dad's house in Grass Valley to minimize my driving on Sunday for the Sacramento CX race - also an NCNCA cup race. Anyway, me and my doggie arrived at Discovery park with plenty of time for warm-up and reg and preriding the course (well, the dog didn't do that stuff, I guess). The course was hard. Like, Cross Vegas hard, with lots and lots of flat grass. Yeah, so, long story short, today I wasn't DFL, but I sure did suck a lot. I was super tired from Saturday, and was just happy I didn't get caught by the master's and B's who started after us. Well, one B pretty much caught me at the end, but it was teammate Beth coming in for a big win!!! So that was cool, and I didn't mind being caught by her. So, second to last for me. Blah. Next time. It was fun, and I didn't fall in the mud under the bridge where it smelled like people peed all the time. Haha, yeah, that was my goal for the day (to not fall in that stinky mud) and I managed to pull it off, so yay me! Anyway, Bella Katie came down to watch and cheer, and it was nice seeing her and Beth.

Now I'm off to work. Yes, work on Veteren's Day. Wish I worked for the Post Office or something... :)

Pay rent or race my bike?

Maybe it's not so simple as that, but I'm currently thinking about hiring a coach. See, I have a great deal of trouble making decisions for myself, especially when it comes to training. So I'm looking around for a coach. Seems like it's going to end up costing me about as much as I pay for rent (which is ridiculously low for rent, yet seems like a lot of money for someone telling me when and how to ride my bike.) Hmmm. . .