A little more for Sheldon

Remembrances abound this week around the Interweb for bike guru Sheldon Brown. They ranged from misty-eyed tributes to witty, succinct observations. I liked this one in particular, "If you tallied up all the gear inches calculated on his Gear Calculator, it would reach the moon." No kidding. The number of gear inches I've tallied alone from that page could get me most of the way to Cape Canaveral. I'd walk back and forth from my bike stand to my computer figuring out which combination would work best and if the 36t wouldn't give me a good enough chainline, what would I have to change out to still keep 58"...oh but then if I change out from 23s to 32s what does that do....etc. etc. If his Gear Calculator were a paperback, it'd be dogearred and covered in Scotch tape.

More of the best:

Bike Snob
Belgian Knee Warmers
Bike Portland
Kent Peterson
Velonews
The semi-official Blogspot remembrance site

"Like Santa Claus died"

Bicycling icon, hero, inventor, muse, artist, humorist, mechanic, historian, inspiration, and all-around Good Guy, Sheldon Brown, passed away last night from a massive heart attack. We were saddened to hear of his diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis a few years ago, and I followed his journal as he made his way through the bumps of dealing with this degenerative disease, which slowly robbed him of time on his bicycles, but no one thought it would end like this or so soon. Sheldon was supposed to live forever like Santa Claus, but caked in Phil Wood grease, squirreling down in his Massachusetts bike shop looking for that odd component from 30 years ago that he knows will do the trick for your restoration project or updating one of the many pages of his web site that so many of us turned to at 1 a.m. when the brakes just weren't working right or to calculate how many gear inches we'd have with that shiny new 15t cog and 19mm tubulars.

Most of all, Sheldon loved his wife and they spent most of their lives together raising their family and riding bikes together. Just earlier this month he mentioned that he'd miss her while she was away for the weekend. I guess that's what I loved and admired most about Sheldon. He and his wife shared a wonderful, simple life together tethered by their love for bikes and their family. They rode around France and went on silly rides around town. They epitomized what it means to grow old together and to share even the most routine moments of the day together.

You are missed by so many people! Our hearts go out to you and your family. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

I rode my bike this weekend

(This is for Christine who says I don't blog about riding my bike, hence I must not be riding it, which isn't totally off.)

I went on our team ride Saturday. It was really fun. We started next to the Snohomish airport, rode up to Everett under SUNNY skies (big thanks to our team meteorologist!), wound back to Snohomish where Laura made an emergency chamois cream application stop (she of saddle sore self-surgery fame), continued our way at Mach 9 over to Monroe, then south through some rolling hills at nearly the same silly-fast pace that made my legs question why I ever got off the couch this winter, then down out of the hills zipping past Miss Christine and her man, Pat, going the other way, finally ending up back at the cars 41 miles, 5 full heart rate zones, 0 flat tires, 2 Heed water bottles, and 3 mini-Lara bars later.

Ellen and I got in my car and she was the first to blurt out, "That was HARD!". No shit, little Ellen. This is not the team of old. If I could survive a team ride like this, I can hopefully survive my first race in 5 weeks, which my coach is deliberately not preparing me for. He wants to see how well I do "not being in shape," holding me back for later spring and summer blossoming. I'm only starting to come out of Zone 2 next week with some intervals thrown in once/week (ok minus the full-throttle team rides). So roger that. I am on target for a serious ass kicking by amazon women on bikes come March.

Fluffy fluffy snow snow!

Snoqualmie Pass has been closed since Tuesday! Avy after avy after avy has been coming down over I-90 and there are some lucky ski bums who have been stuck up at the Pass enjoying all the freshiez and jumping off the overpass into massive piles of FLUFF. How epic would it be to skin up I-90 to the Pass, then ski back down? ("What's that loud rumbling noise, Honey?")

Of all the years for my knee to be completely effed up:

"Additional heavy snowfall was received in most areas on Thursday, heaviest near and west of the Cascade crest, with 24-hour amounts ranging from about 8 to over 16 inches and 6-day totals since last weekend ranging up to 5-8 feet."

I do still have my snowboard. And it's not like my knee could get much WORSE. Just a few runs on deep.....fluffy...puffy.....snow!!!

The problem with yoga

I'm trying for the umpteenth time to incorporate yoga into my weekly routine. I find, however, that it is impossible for me to participate in an activity that I'm not supposed to inhale mass quantities of food beforehand. When I come home from a long day at work, what wins out? Not my yoga DVD, but a fabulous, well-earned dinner washed down with some decent French red wine. Now if I was supposed to get on my trainer or even go out for another ride - totally do-able given the contents of my fat belly. But to get on the floor and bend and twist and heave-ho is a recipe for something far messier than Momo's litterbox.

First thing in the morning? Doesn't work either. That is time preciously carved out for sleeping til the 8th hour, putting lunch together, checking that the bike will roll, and heading out the door.

I know it's good for me, but it's just not meant to be. Thxvmch.

Drilled with Love

The Birthday Fairy came into town this weekend and made me my first studded tire for going into battle the next time the city is encased in ice. 162 sheet metal screws of death! Some kids stay up at night praying for snow to go sledding, now I'm praying for ice to go ride my bike. Full report to follow, hopefully sometime before spring. If cherry blossoms begin to bloom before its maiden voyage I'll make a trek up to the Pass for a test run, but nothing could possibly beat trekking across an incapacitated city and feeling absolutely BADASS.

For Sale! Chamois Creme - NOT USED (much)

(Not to pick on one of my guy teammates, but this is too good to pass up)

"I bought some Assos chamois cream in an effort to try something other than the Butt’r I have been using for seven years. Well, it seems that this stuff has menthol in it which should only be used in Halls cough drops, IcyHot and cigarettes. Well after trying it once, I found it was NOT for me. 'Susy' tells me that the lady folk really like this stuff (???) Anyway, I’m looking to offload it as I wont be using it again. So here is the important info – only used once and more importantly, I didn’t double dip! I paid $18 for the 140 ml container and would be happy to let it go for $10. If you are interested, let me know."

I told him that I dunno what unsavory ladies he's been talking to, but anything with menthol has not been approved for use in HooHooville so he should stick with the yummy shea butter found in Greyhound Juice. Love your jewels and support the Locals!!

Well golly

I got this unexpected surprise at work today. I guess they were going to give me the actual letter at our staff meeting, but I skipped out in favor of going to the gym (even though I ended up yapping on the phone with Jane in the parking lot longer than actually being at the gym), so all I get right now is a fax transmittal.

It's a letter of commendation from our department head for my work on the oil spill the past 2 months, the spill that's pretty much taken over my life and put me under far too much stress and taken away far too much base mileage for the upcoming racing season (oh, but the herring!!! Who will save the herring!!). At first I figured it was just a form letter, but then people started coming in at the end of the day to congratulate me and explain that these don't come out very often and it dawned on me that this might actually be a true letter of acknowledgement and appreciation for all I did.

I guess all I can say is THANKS!, but how about a RAISE! This fax doesn't do much to help the water damage in my bathroom!!

Just kidding.

It's nice for people down in the trenches to be recognized. Salut!

The wonders of my knee

Saw my doc today as a follow up to the xray and MRI I had done on my knee the other week. That week of tele skiing in BC had done me in and it was time to see what was rumbling under the hood. Fifteen years has past since its last inspection and I sure got my copay's worth! You may recall that I optimistically thought it would just be a bunch of yummy scar tissue. Oh no.

1) Re-torn ACL - I AM STUNNED, yet remarkably flabbergasted at the awesomeness of my leg strength to adapt to this handicap. And in all my ignorance I cannot believe that I've been running around and trying to ski with NO ACL. Those of you who don't know this cute little ligament - it basically stabilizes your whole knee, connecting the tibia and femur, and w/o it your knee buckles and you fall and hurt more delicate features. Picture yourself with a rubber chicken as your right leg, now try to go play. I tore this ACL back in 1988 and it was very annoying to have it buckle intermittently until I finally had it repaired in 1993. She doesn't know how long it's been torn, but I have no idea when I could have done this over the last 15 years. I guess that woman rugby player who tried to pick me up at the gym years ago was right when I tried to insist that I couldn't play w/o an ACL: " I don't have an ACL," she said alluringly.

2) Torn lateral meniscus and medial meniscus - Oh boy torn cartilage!! I had one of these repaired in 1988, guess it's time again!

3) Chondromalacia - More damaged cartilage! This is more cartilage under the kneecap and on the femur. Pain increases with bending! This is why tele and walking downhill hurts like HELL. Joy!!

4) Osteoarthritic changes - Yay arthritis!! She said it's just starting and that it could be mitigated with glucosamine and chondroitin supplements and maybe surgery to clean it out.

She was expecting to put me in surgery soon, but I said NO THANKS, maybe next year. It doesn't interfere with my cycling, which is all that matters right now. So my backcountry skiing dreams are indefinitely postponed. I'll keep the fire going for y'all and drink all the Baileys myself!

Oh bother

I was just going to say that I've been in full Eeyore-mode the past few weeks as life pulls one rug after the other from under me. Then I noticed a remarkable resemblance between my new team photo and this picture of Eeyore, minus the pink bow in my pigtail. If you've seen my team photo you should be laughing by now, otherwise you'll have to wait for our new team site to go public, like any time this summer.

Someone said "Good morning, Jill" to me on the trail this morning and I was so blinded by the SUN of all things, that I could not make out who it was, only a friendly feminine voice. I thought it was Miss Jen, but that was eventually ruled out. I'll just think it was my fairy godmother out for a sunny morning ride.

Spent the long weekend up in Vancouver with newly visa-ed Zack and our bikes. Amazingly bike and ped-friendly. Well marked bike routes, bike blvds, well maintained roads, curb-side signals for bikes to change the stop light, and wallet-sized foldable bike maps. This city did a great job making Seattle look like a total hick town. It's depressing that our officials have let Seattle get this far behind in safe or bike-friendly infrastructure despite inflating sales and property taxes. Oh, and did I mention Canada's free health care? We watched Sicko, too. Depressing.

The nice surprise was the organic bakery around the corner from his new house that had a Pie and Chai special and even had a full list of gluten free pie and soy ice cream! YUM!! I may have visited more than once.

Only 8 days until LOST is back. I miss Hurley and Locke.

Stubborn with a side of stupid

Last night we had another massive winter storm. Lots of heavy rain that turned to sleet...then snow. Overnight the skies cleared and the temperature dropped, leaving the morning with mass amounts of ice covering the entire city.

Never one to listen to the word of reason, esp when it comes to bikes, I mounted my CX tires onto my singlespeed and stepped outside. When everything beneath your feet glistens from the ice, you know it's going to be a long ride to work. I slid on my cleats down my big hill, let out some tire pressure, gingerly got onto the main arterial and made my way down to the Ballard Locks rather than deal with dicey traffic and the Ballard Bridge. The sun was high and warm down in Ballard, but once I was on the Burke, I realized it would take many hours of warm sunshine to melt that coat of thick ice. I tried going on another main road, but I was not fond of dealing with big cars driving on black ice.

An HOUR later, I made it to Fremont. I decided to hole up at Peets and let the world warm up a little before proceeding. I hugged my Americano and watched other cyclists walk their bikes over the ice or mash through on mtbs. Thirty minutes went by and I gave it another go. There was still mass amounts of ice in the bike lanes and on the Burke, so I navigated to Northlake which was gloriously wet and clear of ice. Once at UW, I hopped back on the Burke and chopped through slowly melting ice. Up by TiCycles I could get onto the dirt trail, which my CX tires dug into with glee and even broke through the icy patches.

2 1/2 hours later, I got to work. The sun is still high so hopefully this shit will melt throughout the day. I'm going up to Vancouver this weekend to visit my handsome fellow and we're going to buy a few bottles of wine and build some studded tires. I have a deep need to be destructive so this will be a marvelous outlet.

Sunshine!

Happy! Sunshine! Bikes! Track! Pacelines! Go Fast! Friends! More!!

Bailey

And you think you love snow? No, you don't. Really.

For sweet Rose

Our teammate's partner, Rose, passed away this morning after many years of battling cancer throughout her young life. She was adamant that Lance Armstrong had it easy. What most people don't know is that his cancer is one of the most treatable out there, while his "miraculous" recovery made the rest of the world's cancer patients appear weaker or less of a super hero.

Rose was a super hero. She came to many of our races to cheer us on even if she just had chemo the day before. She would bundle herself up and be so tired that she could barely get up, but it gave her great joy to see her partner race and to be an honorary member of the team. One of the funniest times was when she and Heather rented one of those crazy fancy expandable RVs and drove it to the Walla Walla stage race so they'd have someplace cozy to spend 4 days. Turns out that Heather couldn't drive the rig so Rose channeled her inner truck driver and drove the whole way there and back. Ever try to k-turn an RV? Rose did. Ever get chased off the suburban streets of Walla Walla by the local cops and have to retreat to the Wal-Mart parking lot? Rose did.

As it so happens, in 2008 our team has a new partnership with the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) where Rose received much support and treatment. Our team plans to do a lot of outreach with the SCCA because many of us feel that there is so much more to racing that just collecting points and striving to crush the competition. A kit is more than just flashy sponsorship. We want it to echo "I make a difference in a cancer patient's life," whether it's fundraising or taking them for a ride around Greenlake. Sometimes having the sun rise in the morning is more than another day to be stronger, sometimes it's a gift from heaven.

Much love to our teammate during this time and to sweet Rose for making us better people.

2008: Now with left tele turns!

Spent a week over New Year's with good friends and a cute boy up at Kicking Horse ski area in Golden, BC. Not nearly as much dumpage as the Cascades have been getting, but it was a fantastically huge mountain with lots of terrain (i.e. lots of green runs for gumbies like myself). Most of all it was a great chance to put in many hours on my tele skis to see if I could improve any.

Good news: I can now make a real left tele-turn! No more just turning to the right for me. There were a few marvelous epiphanies about weight distribution and positioning that made my turns actually work really well. Zack took some footage of me looking somewhat competent going down the slope, albeit in slo-freakin'-motion. Someone speed me up! One of these days I'll be able to stop worrying about going too fast and work with the skis and the terrain rather than have them work me.

Bad news: All this bending and turning and working against the skis so much has left my right knee most unpleased with this new activity and it swelled up after a few days, leaving me in too much pain for any more turns. Time to finally have someone check out what's been happening in there since my last reconstructive surgery 15 years ago. Hopefully just a mess of scar tissue that can be broken down in a few physical therapy appointments (right?). Nothing like another nagging injury to have lined up in the queue.

Otherwise it was a wonderful break from anything work related and I'm stoked to get back on the bike (something I can do well!!) and start training my ass off. It feels like I've been off the bike for years. Now if it would let up raining......

Blast off

Whew. Made it back to my home planet after spending 3 days on the distant rock where my parents live. It's always very difficult living among them and their people, even for a few days. I am treated like an alien who 1) looks weird (socks have to match? they just keep me warm), 2) eats weird food ("Does anyone want to try her GLOO-ten free pancakes? They taste just like real pancakes."), 3) participates in strange activities (plays in mnts, travels, bike commutes), and 4) does not associate with their native past times (digital television's 500 tv stations, afternoons watching football, wanting to put all prisoners on Alcatraz so they can kill each other and we won't have to pay for their containment, etc.).

I tried to get my faithful rocket ship ready for an emergency early departure, but there were some technical difficulties so I had to wait it out and blast off at the assigned hour.

Highlights: My mom loved her recycled glass tile plant stand that I made her. My dad loved his trove of Smartwool cycling socks. Watching how ridiculously happy dogs are with stuffed toys that squeak. It was sunny. Finally reading Steinbeck's book on King Arthur and his Knights.

(imagination = salvation)

The contents of my backpack

This is one of the stranger collections I've had at one time:

- Sheep's milk feta
- Whole Foods gluten-free pizza crust
- Organic canned tomatoes (yes there is a pattern)
- Phytogen supplements
- Vitamin D supplements
- Bumble & Bumble Creme de Coco shampoo
- An orange
- A grout application stick thingee
- Bottle of silicon grout sealer (aha another pattern)
- 1 Superfeet shoe insole (I couldn't find the other)
- Unused gym clothes because I never got there today
- Lavender oil so I don't stink so bad after (not) going to the gym
- Bike pump
- Flat tire accessories
- 3 vials of drugs that need to be refilled
- Patch from the Gulf of the Farallones
- ID badge from the spill
- Lunch-time tupperware

I'm finally out of work before 8 p.m. so I'm off to fill it up some more with Xmas goodies for a cute boy that I love.

POW-gasmic!

I spent not ONE, but TWO days skiing in major dumpage powder fluff this weekend. On Saturday Zack, Denny, Sketchy, Eric, and I went to Stevens Pass for the season's inagural gear shakedown. The lifts were still closed, but we skinned up a bunch, came down through big poofy batches of powder, and fell a few times in between. It was so silly fun and felt even better to be outside playing in the snow while the rest of the western WA metropolis was drenched in rain, sleet, and even a little snow. YUCK! Rumor is that my team spent the morning riding their bikes on trainers in a parking garage!! WTF??? HELLO! The Great Outdoors are calling!

After such fun Saturday, Zack and I needed more so we drove all the way to Mt. Baker for even more heavy POWage, but this time with the aid of mechanical lifts. It dumped all day during the many runs, and ended with 100 mph winds that shut the lifts down a little early. I was in the lodge by then, my legs wondering what the hell I was doing with them this weekend. Do squats while bouncing along on two planks? Are you NUTS?!?! Have you heard of this invention called a COUCH?

Big props go out to all the adept snowboarders and skiers at Baker who are skilled enough to give a gumby tele-skier like myself a wide, wide berth.

And even bigger thanks to my boyfriend who, despite all the faceplants and uncontrolled left turns I do, continues to be seen with me.

YUM!!

Mountain snow springs eternal

We're going to play in the snow this weekend and I am SO excited to get the heck out of dodge and away from anything with 2 wheels. Funny that I'm already burned out on bikes and I didn't really even have a season, but I find that the mental anguish of being sick doles out its own helping of frustrations and disappointments, especially when you're trying to come back and no where near the level you should be. This winter I promise to be more balanced in my activities to prevent the kind of burnout that comes from focusing so hard on one activity that you forget everything else that has the potential to make you happy: skiing all day in the fresh, clean air; snowshoeing under quiet, gray-cloaked skies; rubbing snow angels into the earth; warm mountain cabins; and building smiling snowmen with mossy beards to greet other hikers along the way.

So tonight I dusted off my favorite tele book to brush up on my skills and visualize smooth, bouncy tele turns and snowy bliss with my fuzzy mountain man. With the newly dumping snow comes a newly rejuvenated me.

3rd Annual Ride for the Pies

mmmmmm.....PIE!!! That's what motivated 7 of us to set off on our bikes under super sunny skies Thanksgiving Day to ride from Seattle to Fall City. I had just arrived from San Francisco that morning and had enough time to eat one of Zack's wonderful omlettes, chug some coffee, and pack my gear for the rest of the day's adventure. Unlike the previous two years' cold rain, this ride was far too easy....dry pavement....brilliant sunshine....until we dropped down Novelty Hill, through a thermocline, and into the Carnation Valley. The late afternoon temperature easily dropped 10 degrees and the frost covering the ground indicated we were in for a bone chilling evening. By the time we hit the Nestle Farms the sun had set, the moon was lighting the valley, and feet and hands were already completely numb. With about 10 miles to go we could only think of mass amounts of pie and a warm fireplace. Onward we rode, increasing our pace to get to the finish faster, but damned by the wind chill that mocked our efforts.

The moon and stars were striking as we made it to Janna's around 5:30 p.m. We thawed out in front of her fireplace and devoured the first pumpkin pie and a few rounds of beer and mulled wine. We later moved on to strawberry/rhubarb, then pecan, then more berry cobbler......mmmm.......can a tradition of riding 48 miles and eating tons of wonderful food get any better?

Today there was more brilliant sunshine, so while Zack hiked up Granite with Denny and Ash, I opted to be the only person to ride all the way back to Seattle. I quickly found out that riding back is way harder, not only because you're tired and loaded down by pecan pie, but because it's a longer grade getting out of the Carnation Valley and it never...ever....ends. Woodinville-Duvall Road? SUCKS. The Burke was a welcome relief as I knew every bump and waypoint, but the last stretch after Matthew's Beach....SUCKS. I swear my body always knows that it's almost done and throws in the towel a little early despite being 10 miles out. I finally pulled into home as the sun was setting, my feet and hands not quite frozen, but my heavy Messquerade sweatshirt never felt so good.

One week of sitting on my butt at an oil spill, the next 2 days riding ~100 miles under beautiful fall skies and getting some color back on my face. Thanksgiving? You bet.