New-ness

Lots of new things to ponder this week.

New racing season (yeah, I showed up a little late to the party). My first race of 2009 will be this coming weeked...Idyllwild Spring Challenge. (gulp)

(photo from last year)

A new set of wheels. Specialized Roubaix Pro. Carbon. Full DuraAce. I am not yet worthy of this bike.

New Podium bottle (I got a free one at Interbike and really wanted another).

New recipe for whole wheat bread.

New growth. Plants are blooming and sprouting. Looking forward to the rest of spring.

Tom-ah-toes

Orange blossoms (my favorite)

Cactus about to bloom


Cactus #2

when moths attack

Mothra vs. Godzilla. Lol. Not quite what happened in our backyard yesterday, but it was a little unnerving. Dan and I were eating dinner around dusk at the end of a hot, hot (102 degree) day, watching the hummingbirds at our bottlebrush tree. Suddenly, the birds were joined by what looked like baby hummingbirds. Awwww, how cute.

Until we start to see a few, then a dozen, and then a few dozen! Upon closer inspection with binoculars and then up close, we decided they were really hummingbird-like moths! And Google, in all its wondorousness, led me to the species: the White-Lined Sphinx Moth (Hyles lineata).

Photo credit to Dr. Bill May (http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/moths.shtml

house = home

Here are some interesting before and after shots of the house. We are in month 2, officially, of home-ownership. We've been living here now for just over a month and spent 4 weeks doing work/minor renovations. It's a work in progress, and no...it will never really end, but we've made a damn good start!

Kitchen before...old appliances, no paint, awful linoleum floor


Kitchen after...stainless steel appliances, new paint, tile floor (done by us)


And, the best part, our chalkboard wall


Living room/fireplace before...yellow/orange paint and 4" tile in entry


Living room/fireplace after...rich, dark accent wall, new tile in entry, ceiling fan


Dining room before...hideous, unfinished green and orange paint. They painted around some furniture


Dining room after...new paint and light fixture (only wires before), artwork ready to hang

It's Been a Long Time (Since I've Rock & Rolled...)

I think I'm ready to do this again...devote some time each week to blogging. The last several months have seen new beginnings and new endings. New stage in my relationship. New house. New level of commitment to training. Lots of good things and fun times have been had.

In an attempt to keep our loved ones and friends more in-the-loop, I'll be posting up bike-related and non-bike related musings and photos. You want a little insight? Check back frequently. I can't promise that there will be something new everyday, but hopefully it'll be something to entertain, inform, or enlighten.

Awesome New Pants!

DH pants, that is, made by Loeka. Ordered them up from my pal Jackie at Freeride Foundation...keeping me styling and warm at Whistler :)

10 Questions

We were perusing Whistler MTB's website and came across interviews for their "park sponsored" athletes: Shandro, Gulevich, Moreland, Buchar. They asked them 10 questions about mountain biking for that "get to know a little bit about you" schtick.

I though it would be fun(ny) to have some of the people going on our trip to answer the questions, too.

Here's what I wrote:

Favorite mountain bike product from the early ninties or 80's? Since I didn't have a mtb then, I'm not sure, but Dan always tells me about something called 'elastomer' shocks...

Favorite Current Trend in Mountain biking. Destination vacations...I want to get me some Switzerland, baby!

Least favorite Trend in mountain biking ever. The kits of the 90s...fluorescent lycra. Ew!

You're flying down a trail when you come to section with three options to clear a stream that is about fifteen feet wide. You can either:
1) Go straight at it, launch off a root at the edge of the stream which will get you to a small island in the middle of the stream where you could hit a small lip and clear the second half of the stream
2) Carve left and hit a hip to the tranny on the far side
3) Go right and ride a 12' wide ladder bridge that has a lip half way that sends you over a 3 foot gap to downhill ladder bridge tranny. (bridge4ft above water)
All fast and flowy…but what do you choose and why?

Since I'd probably kill myself if I tried to pull off any of these, can I walk around it?? :)

How long have you been riding? XC...4 years. DH...3 years.

Favorite Nick Name you've been given? Stephie-bear.

Dream Car? A Suby that gets over 30 mpg.

Favorite Trail in Lower Whistler Bike Park? It was probably Angry Pirate. But I thought A Line was pretty classic.

Ideal place for a dream vacation with your significant other given unlimited budget? Taking a huge, long road trip around the Pac NW to ride...then off to Europe to ride some more, with a few private clinics by Peaty, the Athertons, Sabrina, etc. thrown into the mix. Eventually finding a quiet country hamlet close to killer trails, opening a coffee shop, and riding all the time.

G-Unit or Wu-Tang Clan?
Can't stand when the kids call me Ms. G...unit. So, I have to go with the Wu.

Megadeth or Linkin Park?
Linkin Park.

Modest Mouse or Johnny Cash?
Oh, is there any question here. The man in black.

Favorite off season training activity?
Running.

More traction or less rolling resistance?
Traction, for sure. I am forever sliding out in corners.

Honest opinion of Road Riding?
Awesome cross-training, but it doesn't speak to me like mtb does. Where's the soul?

Words of advice to the Groms?
Stop taking all my little Stephanie-sized jumps and making them huge!

Cat Bait

This past week has been a busy one...getting ready for Whistler (4 days to go), dealing with bikes, trying to bring the summer program to a close, figuring out how to exercise with a sore knee.

The knee-debacle happened last Sunday while we were riding San Juan. Somewhere after we finished Viejo Tie, my right knee just started hurting, especially on the down stroke of pedaling. Coasting downhill and even pedaling on the flat didn't/doesn't hurt much. But to really mash on the pedals while going uphill causes me some pain. So, have I done what any logical person would and taken it easy this past week? Nah.

I continued with my 3 Turbulence Training sessions and went for a mtb ride with Dan and Will on Saturday at LPQ. 16 miles...not bad. Knee? A little sore.

Then, it was decision time about Sunday...to ride or not to ride? We had to take a trip up to The Path at some point during the weekend to deal with my Socom's f@#$ed up headset. Nothing quite like getting ready for the biggest mtb trip in the past 3 years and finding out the fork won't even come out of the headset. Countless tools, 2 shops, and 1 hour of hitting with a hammer later...I have a brand new FSA headset. Woohoo! (I really wanted the CK but it sits up too high).

Anyhow, we decided since we'd be up in the OC direction, to do a ride with the HTFU crew and spend all day behind the Orange Curtain. First time riding the infamous OC trails (except for downhilling at Laguna).

Would the knee hold up?

Dan and I met the HTFU crew (Allison, Justin, Luke, Jefe, and Zippy Eric) at the Aliso Canyon parking lot around 9:15...we ran late. I was in such a rush and was trying to deal with the pay parking machine that I forgot my Body Glide. Ouch.

Note of importance: the pay parking machine does not take anything expect $1 bills and quarters. The cost to park is $3. I put in a $5 bill and was like, "dude...keep my change..." but it would just spit the bill back at me. How rude. A very nice biker and Justin lent us the $$ we needed.

Dan-o heads out

Got going around 9:30. Allison had sent me the course profile on Geoladders, and it looked to have 3 pretty mean climbs in it.

Started out with a nice, flat-ish ride for about 2.5 miles. Then, up Burning Calves...I mean Dripping Cave. Short but very steep climb which I made but had to stop to let others go by. My strategy for the day was to climb everything in as small a gear as possible (which is unlike me, because usually I'm trying to see how hard of a gear I can reasonable pull off). Granny gear was my companion du jour.

Right before Mathis, Jefe informed us that his rear brake was not working. We bade him farewell and told him we'd see him in the p.m. for some BBQ action.

So, then, Mathis. Wow. I actually rode the whole thing (except for a short 20' section where I walked). The whole time, I watched the group pull further and further away, thinking "I am sooo going to be Cat Bait." Just look...a lone straggler. Sturdy. Meaty. I could hear the mountain lion thinking...

HTFU crew heads up Mathis

Of course, my imagination was running wild, but it's hard not to think these things sometimes.

Toward the top of Mathis, Justin came down a bit for some "bonus goater". We regrouped and then headed out toward Stairstep. Passed Winston and his posse on the way out there. So, Stairstep. Last time I rode it was 3 years ago on my DH bike. With pads. And a full face.

Here I stood...hardtail Niner. Lycra. Half shell.

My little green bike

I walked 2 or 3 of the gnarlier sections toward the top and picked my way down the rest. Whew! No crashes.

Allison & Eric choose the safer way down

Over to LCPW. Up Willow. Down Rattlesnake (that was exciting!). I was still caboosing it. Down Mach 1. I was on the brakes so bad!

Luke is ready to ride...LCWP

Time to climb. I walked the steep section at the bottom. I actually started to ride it and got off my line, into the scrabble on the left. Damn! So I walked. You know, my knee actually still felt decent, but I had to be wary of how much pressure to put on the pedal. I'd say the left leg was doing about 70% of the work.

How many riders does it take to figure out the map?! :)

Before I knew it, we were descending Willow and hiking back up Stairstep. Bravo to the boys for riding a lot of it, or at least trying.

Dan-o puts in a good effort up Stairstep

We descended Lynx and then had a time trial back to the parking lot. Justin 'won' right at the end!

Over to The Path for a new headset and seat post collar for the Socom (Hope in red). Then, it was time to go to Jefe's for BBQ except I forgot to ask him directions to his house. Oops. Long story short...after getting his voicemail over and over (due to 2 different calling plans), we finally made it over.

We got the grand tour of his awesome home and then drank beers, watched some DH vid, and ate some delicious dinner. Jefe fully stocked us up with American Crew product, too :) Thank you!!

Smoked Porter...yum!

Getting some BBQ action

Luke feeling the love

Not quite your size, Justin!

All in all, a busy weekend...I'm ready for some Whistler R & R.

Un Casco Nuevo (The New Helmet)

Quick as lightning, Dan's new helmet from sponsor Azonic/O'Neal arrived today. He needed a new helmet before Whistler to replace his blue/orange TLD D2 lid that took a good beating after last Saturday's crash.

Check it out...O'Neal 9 Series moto helmet, in "evil black" (no, that's not really the name, but that
what it reminds me of)!

Facebook...

The answer to every theory about a black hole...simple...there's a computer screen with Facebook on it at the center.

Nobel prize, please?!

Finished...finally!

Well, guys, the Lochsa DVD editing is done!! Can I get a "woo-hoo"?? Can I get an "Amen"??

It's taken me about 6 weeks and probably well over 100 hours of editing time to get it all done, but you know what? It was a great experience. I learned so much from my mentor, Joe, about the whole process. He was so patient when I texted, called, and/or emailed him multiple times in a row to ask the most mundane/ridiculous questions.

So, the next step is going to be to set up the file and get it ready to record. Sweet!

I was also able to make a shorter movie from the 2006 footage (back when we only had 2 boats) that will come after the 2008 footage on the DVD. It's all pretty good :)

Even though editing can be a pain, there is something about it that's engrossing...and slightly addicting. I'm already thinking of my next project: Whistler, 2008!