Thursday night on the town

My head is still reeling from a night out with my favorite bike hooligans. Scotty, who left us 2 years ago to return to his homeland in the Far North, came back for a night of beach wrestling, bonfires, toxic martinis, broken noobies, and of course lots of bikes.

I've missed riding with these guys, and something has drawn me back. Probably the realization that racing and training will never fully complete my life, but people who love bikes and carving their own trail surely will, much as it always has. (But next time, dudes, TACO TRUCK!)

Yet another South Seatac race

Well that hurt like hell.

Searing lungs - check

Inability to take another step up a "runup" - check

Flailing over barriers - check

Blackberry leaves sticking out of shoe 2 out of 3 laps - check

Screaming at girl who fell for no reason at 3mph on the pavement as I rode over her rear wheel and toppled over and lost at least 5 places on last lap - check

Lose sprint at the finish with nothing left in the tank - check

Uncontrollable drooling when I finally stopped - check

So close to puking, but not quite getting there - check

Did I mention searing lung pain - check check

Many lessons learned at South Seatac today. Biggest one is to not assume at the start that you are behind people who will have a good start. You're in control of your own race destiny. Hoards of women surged around me as I tried to get around those I started behind. I spent most of the race passing nincompoops with no bike handling skills and desperately trying to catch those in front of me who did. I still have crap in my lungs and was in crazy amount of pain breathing. Gotta get that figured out.

Had a great time seeing Ali (3rd!!) and Nancy do so well and hearing that Kelly finished unscathed. Our team had a great turnout and as usual, Eddie was a blessing on the stupid runup screaming "JILLYBEEEEEE!!!!!!" from across the infield. I was a little disappointed finishing midpack, but will cut myself a little slack for being on the bench so long and encountering so many wrecks in front of me. It only makes you determined to do so much better the next time!

More than this

Belguim: more than great beer!

Finally picked up my new Ridley Crosswind this week!


She's my first foray into the modern world of aluminum and carbon fiber (not to mention Shimano shifter/brake levers....what are these? Joysticks?). The last time I rode an aluminum frame was around 1996 on my old 1993 Cannondale (which replaced my 1987 Cannondale). Dang these frames have come a long way! Took her for her maiden voyage on Tuesday up the B-G and even then I could tell that this was one mighty fine bike. Bumps? Gravel? Dirt? Like buttah!! Seems like those carbon fiber forks live up to their reputation and aluminum isn't just the thick, beer can tubing of years past. So THIS is why people ride fancy modern bikes!!

Next we went to the Wed night CX training (holy hell I'm outta shape!) and she handled and rode like a dream - no jackhammering like my other steel frames that left my hands numb. And gears! Wow, when did those get invented? They're GREAT! Too bad I'm still so winded from 3 weeks off the bike and crud in my lungs to give this bike a true run for its money. For now it will be lots of play time and $20 training rides on Sunday mornings. And rides on the dirt during my commute! Grrrrrr.....outta my way joggers!

If it's too loud.....

Just got a phone call that my music is too loud and the new person downstairs can't fall asleep. Sweet! The new speakers I got yesterday for my computer are officially deemed a success! What good is a subwoofer if you can't feel the base? What did I bother the poor lass with?

Britney Spears, The Bubblegum Pop Remixes

Hell YEAHZZ!!

Where I been

Finally back from 2 1/2 weeks of working in Houston on Hurricane Ike messes. Funny that an AP article came out today on what we were doing and they even quote and have pics of the friends that I worked with:


Having a hard time getting back on the bike. I'm completely wiped out and EBV is ramping up. I've averaged 12 hrs of sleep the past 3 nights I've been back, a far cry from the 3-5 hrs I was getting in Texas. All my momo-tivation is towards laying on the couch and napping. Commuting and racing seem so....distant and haaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrd....

It's not supposed to happen

I'm so sorry Jen. Jane described you as, "leaving a trail of smiles everywhere she goes." They're a trail of tears right now, but you have a world of love around you that will make sure you smile again.

We love you Quadzilla.

To the sand pits!

So Gustov turned into a big fat nothing for those of us who respond to environmental disasters. Lots of wind and rain and power outages that will take up to 4 months to restore so FEMA is busy, but not us. So I get to stay local and.......ready my lame as for cyclocross season!!!

I did my first race in 2 years this Labor Day and had a shit eating grin for all 35ish minutes of the singlespeed race. I raced yee ole Fat Chance that I did quite well on in 2005, but 10# later it's a little tougher to get that steel rig around. Regardless, I had a blast and smirked for all three laps as the bell on my handlebars "tingtingting-ed" over every grassy bump and tree root and annoyed the living crap out of the other racers (mwhahahaha). The race course was fantastic, really long with lots of fun singletrack, a little pavement, and that bloody sandpit taken from the top instead of the bottom - so much for practicing my line from the bottom. I made it through anyway powered by sheer stubbornness.

My teammates RULE. At one of the woodsy runups, all I wanted to do was walk up, but from the bottom I could hear Ed at the top bellowing through the forest, "GO JILLYBEEEEEEE!!!" It made me laugh even harder and realize I had to give them a show and dig into that stupid hillside and get my ass up. Thanks so much for the encouragement, y'all.

No surprise, I ended up DFL in singlespeed against all the wily, fast men, but I did come in first woman! Ha! My new Ridley should be coming in soon so its gears and I will race Cat 4 in an effort to upgrade to 3 this season. Singlespeed will be by special appearance only. Like the SSCXWC08 in Portland with Sharon! More beer! (Aye, but should I really be on the same registration list as all those Elites? The universe really isn't supposed to work like that.)

Next stop, Counterbalance's CopperCross next Sunday back at Seatac!

Hold yer horses there, Northern Exposure

Holy crap

Ya know....when I was in NOLA the other week working on cleaning up a big oil spill, I joked, "Hey it's almost hurricane season, we'll have one come through and clean everything up for us."

I was kidding.

-----------------

New Orleans evacuation ordered
The Times-Picayune
Saturday August 30, 2008, 8:43 PM

Warning that Gustav is the "mother of all storms," Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday ordered a mandatory evacuation of the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and the east bank for noon.

"We want 100 percent evacuation," Nagin said. "It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan area."

Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.

"This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina," he said.

The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.

"You need to be scared and you need to get your butts out of New Orleans right now," Nagin said.

Nagin said he expects Gustav to "punch holes in the Harvey Canal," which could cause the West Bank to become a bathtub.

The West Bank has 8-foot-high to 10-foot-high protection, he said. Gustav's storm surge may be 15 to 24 feet high.

Anyone who opts to remain in New Orleans "will be on your own," Nagin warned, adding that services will not be available.

Before the month is out....

I'll post about something.

- Happy 3rd Katrina Anniversary! It's still a mess down there. Isn't this America? Another hurricane could only make it better by funneling money down there and making NOLA one of America's most livable cities again.

- Spent last week on a leisurely road trip from Santa Fe, NM back to Seattle with Zack. He was down there getting his Wilderness First Responder training (a.k.a. 80 hours of playing MacGyver) and is the person to go to if you ever have a ski pole or ice axe sticking out of your chest. We loaded the car with his mtb for me, and his singlespeed CX bike for him. After an afternoon at Ojo Caliente mineral hot springs we headed to Durango and reveled in some of the legendary, local mtb trails. I was a total GEEK an insisted on hitting all the spots I'd read about in the early 90s when Durango was the center of the mtb world and I idolized the likes of John Tomac, Juli Furtado, Big Ned, H-Ball, Sarah Ballantine, etc. We hit the local bike shop that was a museum of early 90s MTB history: Tomac's XC bike, H-Ball's downhill frankenbike (Oooooh!!! Anodized!!!), Ned's Worlds jersey, the old Specialized ads, etc. I even dragged Zack to the Steaming Bean, which I always read Juli Furtado hung out at. Geek. We also met a few guys packing their car for the MTB Singlespeed Worlds in Marin County and then for a bike ride from Reno to Burning Man. The one guy was wearing a pink VeloShop t-shirt so it was a kindred meeting. We gave them advice on surviving Burning Man and wished them a fun trip. As if.

So on we went to Molas Pass and riding the Colorado Trail, Ouray, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Missoula, and back home. It was great to see that part of the country that I'd never been, but dang I was ready to get off my ass and out of the car. Three weeks of sitting had taken its toll.

- Sarah Palin. Is McCain NUTS???? Sure she's savvy and can fish and shoot a bear all while rocking like Tina Fey, but......is McCain NUTS??? She's no Hillary. American women are not that gullible. He just sealed the nail in his coffin.

- Obama. OHHHHHH-BAAAAAAAMMMMMMM-AHHHHHH. It's not about me, it's about you. America, please don't fuck this up.

- Hurricane Gustov. It must have heard that I ate at the most amazing Argentinian steakhouse the night before I left NOLA and I wondered why it took us 2 weeks to find this place and that I wanted to come back. The universe is funny like that.

- Speaking of being gone....rumor around town is that I was clubbing seals for a few weeks. Why yes I was and they squeak like hell which makes you want to club them more.

- Cyclocross. I came back from my travels to cold weather and rain. I've never been so happy to wear wool clothing and a cotton cycling cap and be soaking wet. My 2 weeks at NOLA = new Ridley. BRING IT.

- Malt n' Vine in Redmond (oh so convenient to Wed night CX practice). My absolute new favorite home away from home (well, almost as favorite as the Burke Counterbalance). Doug and Lizzie will hook you UP with the best beers you've never heard of and even give you a free pint of what's on tap as you check out their goods and expand your mind. Kasteel Rouge - cherries and cherry juice infused Belgian beer? OMG put a nipple on it. In fact, I gave my favorite mechanic a few bottles of good Belgian stuff for totally rebuilding my Serotta and bringing it into the 21st century. Belgian beer, bikes, CX. I love the fall.

Mission Accomplished

Would you trust your shoreline to these fools? You should. They're some of the lead scientific coordinators for spill response and we've just completed another successful mission along the Gulf. In between all-nighters and meetings about oiled rocks (ooops, I mean riprap) we managed to hit the streets together: French Quarter, check. Bourbon Street, check. Hand Grenades, check. Sweet live music, check. Small, intimate, smokey bars, check. Beads, check. New liver, yes please.

Line of the week:

- "What happened to Liz last night?"

- "I dunno. Last we saw Liz she was on Bourbon Street with the Coast Guard."

Go Liz!

The Big Easy

It's oil spill time down in The Big Easy.

I don't work on salvaging gnarled wrecks like this guy:

And I really don't clean up oiled snakes like this guy (serious heebeejeebeez):

I mostly sit around for long days mapping areas that are oiled and habitats that are damaged and will need to be restored in the days, months, and years ahead. The next time your buddy asks you to cut off an 800 ft tanker full of styrene and biodiesel. Don't.

So long fit summer. It's all po'boys all the time.

Alpenrose Challenged

A tale of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

- I did not go to the hospital

- I rode on 47 degree banks

- There were so many women signed up that they split the mass start fields into PRO 1-2 and Cat 3. I came in 8th out of 12ish in the 5-mile scratch. I felt like I could have done much better, but the other women couldn't or wouldn't help to chase down a break so it ended up more a pack sprint and I was too wigged out by the unevenness and banking of the track to do any spirited sprinting.

- I was super inspired watching Juice and Kele battle it out with the other PROs and kick ass on this crazy track! They both gave Jane and I some much needed words of wisdom and support, esp Juice's equally demoralizing story about her first time racing at Alpenrose years ago when she......well you'll just have to race down there and earn the right to hear her story!

- I had the most fun catching up with former Seattlites Jose, Sharon, and Kori and just chillin' under our tent. They took a ton of photos that captured the power and speed on the track as well as the festive community on the infield. Now I'm more excited than ever to return to Alpenrose.....for Cross Crusade!!

The Bad

- Yours truly gets to start her racing by being the first person to do the 200 meter TT. Are you kidding me? I have all of 20 minutes on this whacky track, most of it trying to negotiate around 50 other riders and remembering to breathe, and I have to go FIRST? So I asked for some advice from the locals and did a flying shot in the dark. And came in DFL. Woohoo!!!

- There were at least 5 crashes that I saw over the weekend, which left me shuddering whenever I heard the bikes roar through the first turn near our tent. My stomach was sick anticipating another crash. Oh, and then I'M supposed to participate in a pack race. I spent most of my time staying far away from anyone's wheel and trying to control my bike that was fighting bad physics through the turns and bumps in the concrete that tossed us around.

The Ugly

- The worst track crash (not on YouTube yet for some reason) I ever seen, right in front of our team tent. Not a good way for a wide-eyed newbie to start her weekend of racing. I saw it happening, shut my eyes, opened them again only to see a guy flying up by the rail so I shut my eyes again expecting them all to be dead. Luckily they all eventually walked away with only some track rash. Make sure to note the wheel and part of its fork hurtling through space.

- In another bad crash, a poor guy slid on his front side across the apron, ripping the front of his skin suit and getting some nasty track rash on his face and half of his chest, nearly ripping off a nipple. Is track racing worth losing a nipple? I think not.

Big Waves

This weekend will be "Jane and Jill's Big Adventure" as we road trip down to Portland for the Alpenrose Challenge. Elite chickees from around the country and even from around the world (Guatemala? Trinidad?? Tobago???) will be there, too. Why, you may ask, am I showing up? Well yes I'd be asking the same thing if I sat where you are. How does anyone get roped into something way over their head?

1) They've been talked into it by someone else who makes it sound like SO MUCH FUN
2) Sheer ignorance/naiveté
3) Both

The same could be said when my grad school roommate and I went to Puerto Rico for a week of surfing a number of years ago. Everyone from our little town had been there and told us we HAD to go because it's warm water and so beautiful and that, oh sure - there are plenty of easy waves for you to ride.

LIARS.

When Meghan and I got there we did find a sweet little longboard cove on our first day with no one else around, but out of no where, like a switch had just been turned on, the waves suddenly got really Really REALLY big and we found ourselves completely out of our element, pitifully trying to paddle back into shore while not getting our brains bashed into the coral.

But we survived. And we challenged ourselves every day and got a little bit better. Our timing became more in tune to the faster, bigger waves that rose up out of the deep. We learned how to wait just a few seconds longer and throw our weight back on the steeper face and to pop up faster than we ever thought our tired legs could. And the people we met in the line-up coaxed us along and laughed even when we got pummeled, but really cheered when we got that one good ride-of-the-day that left smiles a mile wide.

Yeah, that's how I'm looking at this weekend. I'll get pummeled, but I'll get back up and keep paddling knowing that I've taken myself up a notch afterwards and that I can bump it up even more the next time I'm in the water.

Summer!

This is my first real, long, enjoyable, activity-filled summer since 2005 and it's a BLAST.

- Did my first Keirin on Friday night and somehow came in 4th in the finals, behind Amara, Annette, and Tela. I call it beginner's dumb luck thanks to my excellent pole positioning in both races. I can definitely dig a race where you don't have to do any work except for the last 600 meters and I even did a new personal high speed of 32.8mph (and the girls who won were going even faster!).

- Need to race smarter in the longer races. No more chasing down everything and saying "it will make me stronger." No, it will make you blow up and finish at the back.

- I've discovered a cure for the hipster fixie plague: make them do workouts 2x/week in a +92" gear. Soon rear derailleurs will no longer be in stock at your LBS.

- I love riding Kermit around town. More than anything I love his gear range so I can spin up any hill and coast at leisure to recover from said 92" gear workouts.

- I love twilight at 10:30pm and sitting on my deck after a hot summer day of riding around, checking out our little garden of spinach, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. It should be like this all the time.

- Despite the wonderful summer, I'm already thinking about CX season and getting a new, GEARED bike. Even one that's light enough for me to shoulder. So far Jake the Snake is at the top of my list, mostly because it's blue and PRETTY. That goes far in a girl's book. What? A 2nd new bike in 2 months? Well.....yeah. Gotta support the LBS in my own form of economic stimulus!

Breathing is for sissies

I thought I was all set up to have a great night of Friday racing. I caught up on all my desperately needed sleep the past 2 days, and even played hookie Friday so that I could sleep in and relax for once. I was rested, hydrated, fed, got my vitamin dope the day before....what could be better?

10 Lap Tempo - One big sprint into the race and my tongue doubles in size and my entire mouth is swollen and I can't breathe. I watch the entire pack swoop by me as I try to keep pedaling and freaking out at the same time. The rest of the race I watch them string out from the other side of the track. 8 laps in I mercifully get lapped and pull the fuck out.

First intermission - Meltdown #1. My life is over. I'm selling all my shit. I have no idea what just happened to me. Being blown off the back in front of hundreds of people is not my idea fun. Having my whole mouth swell up is not my idea of fun.

Miss n' Out - Too stubborn to drop out just yet, I make it about halfway through the race by sprinting around the pack up-track. The paced is manageable enough that my mouth isn't quite as swollen any more but I feel like I'm breathing shards of glass.

Second intermission - Meltdown #2. I'm afraid that I'm allergic to my inhaler and I'll never make it out to race again. No one around me can explain what might be happening so of course I fear the worst. I finally summon the courage to go talk to Kenny without having a meltdown in front of him. Within seconds he explains that the hot dry air is sucking all the moisture out of my mouth and lungs and that I need to stick a piece of gum up in my mouth during the race and it will all be good.

J: "But I've never had this happen before."
K: "Well you just did."
J: "But it's never happened before."
K: "But it just did."
J: "But it didn't happen on Wed or ever before."
K: "You weren't exerting yourself under these conditions before."
J: "Yes I was."
K: "No you weren't."
J: "But it's not really that dry out. It's Seattle. There's still humidity in the air."
K: "Yes it is really dry tonight. Trust me. It happens to me all the time. Try it in this last race and we'll go from there."
J: "I'm tired of getting old."

So Kenny gives me a piece of gum and I go along my way questioning whether this old wives tale will keep me from being humiliated yet again.

4x5 - I tell myself that I'll try 5 laps and if I can't breathe I'll drop out. Miraculously, the gum I'm playing with in my cheek is keeping my mouth from drying out and I can breathe and actually stick with the pack and even chase down some attacks. I finish the race with everyone else, minus any points, but my faith somewhat restored. I find Kenny right after and ask him if anyone's told him that he actually knows what he's talking about. John Hanson is within earshot and cracks up. Kenny smiles and pats me on the head. I end the night a little smarter.

Sprint Mania!

Last night was the first Sprint Mania event. Groups of 3 riders, seeded by previous 200m times, did three 2-lap heats over the course of the evening. I was SO excited to finally participate! I'd been waiting 2 years and now I was actually able to race. I had an idea of how a sprint race was supposed to work. Jane and I have been "playing reindeer games" on Sundays when we get bored with our regular workout. It's a total blast to psyche out your competitor or find ways to hide and get the jump on them.

They let the really fast guys go out first so we all sat around watching their tactics and listening to Bilko scream from the infield "GOOOOOO!!! GOOOOOO!!!!" whenever he saw a perfect opportunity for someone to get the jump. It was even funnier because no one could hear him or knew what an opening they had so they'd just keep rolling around looking at each other, which made Bilko even more frustrated and animated.

In our first heat, I got up high and was going to let my 2 competitors make a jump so they could lead me out. There was a wicked headwind on the backstretch so I didn't think I could hold it the whole way. Lesson #1 - I hesitated just enough when they jumped so I missed their wheel and couldn't make up the ground and came in 3rd. Rats. Never again!

After watching another round of the other riders, it was very apparent that 9 times out of 10, the person who surprises the others keeps their lead and wins. So in my 2nd heat I led the others around crazy slow and kept an eye to see if they were planning anything and tried a few fakey moves. But the second time on Turn 1, I decided to surprise them and got the jump. I sprinted as hard as I could and never looked back, but about 10 meters from the finish, the guy in our heat started to come around me. Good enough for 2nd and if I'd been a bit stronger could have won it. My sneak attack was fun and seemed to work well.

Third heat - take no prisoners. Again I led them around super slow. I knew that I didn't have real sprinters with me so no need to give them an advantage by ramping up the speed. At Turn 4 one of them went, albeit a little too slowly and not with the best commitment, so we got on her wheel and let her pull us around. At the turn for the finish I went around the first two and just nipped Lara at the end. Finally!

It was a really fun night and we all learned a lot. This sprinting thing is a GAS! I'd much prefer a thinking, tactical, 800 meter game over a boring 40 mile road race any day. At some point I hit 32.2 mph. Gotta beef up the legs even more!

Mountain Angels

Blessed are the angels who volunteered yesterday to search for and recover the 3 men who disappeared in the Crystal Mountain backcountry this winter. My friend and coworker, Dave, lost his best friend Phil in this accident. Thank you for helping to bring peace to Dave and the other family members who lost their friends, sons, and lovers. You changed their lives forever yesterday. You found the lost souls and reunited them with their loved ones. I love you Zack and am so proud of you to have been part of such a gracious effort. May you all be safe, smart, and strong in your journeys to the mountains.

Balancing life is haaaaaaard

If you saw me race tonight, I totally sucked. Thanks for being a sport and cheering for me. This was the first anything that I've done in 3 weeks and the humiliation was only amplified by being awarded 4th place for the pre-season races in their little award show at the beginning of the night. Really! I used to be kinda good! Ok I did come out of the races with 2 Positives: helped Jane win a prime and held off Tamara for my own prime until that wiley Amara dove down over us to nip it from me. I'll keep my eye on that one.

But tonight my legs were mushy appendages of overcooked asparagus. I've lost all my power and felt like that 90" gear I owned so well in May was more like 190". At one anoxic point in the first race I literally looked down to see if a brake was rubbing on my rim. D'oh! Couldn't use that excuse.

I don't know how racers balance everything in their lives. Some are lucky and only have to focus on eating and training. Others even have kids. Throw in a job that takes you away and health issues and everything else that ticks off the minutes of the day and you're living your own Amazing Race from dawn til dusk (and after). I guess it's just one day at a time and do that best you can. It sucks that you can be so close to achieving that sense of balance and the universe aligns to make everything perfect, but then inevitable chaos intervenes shortly there after to humble your ass. Balance. Somehow. Some way. Some times.