Happy Birthday Mom!

67 and counting.....

Dog Is My Co-pilot

Another weekend of good training rides. Sonja, Hank and I covered nearly 5 hours on Friday meandering thru the suburbs of Maryland. Yes, this was only supposed to be a one hour ride for me, but this is what I get when I agree to ride with Sonja on a little "out and back on the CCT." Yeah right. Saturday we skipped the Kelly Acres ride because we are wimps and decided to ride up to Great Falls for some hill repeats with J-Max and K-Lo. Brutal I say, especially the 2 repeats up Brickyard. Sunday was a chill Arlington Hills ride again with J-Max. I think I rode a total of 10 hours this weekend. Maybe that does not seem like a lot to some of you, but this chicken was in bed by 8 last night because I was so tired. Thankfully, today I only had to spin 45 minutes so I just rode the ss to work and home and that covered it.

After riding Sunday we had a play date with the white dog. We picked her up and off to Rock Creek park we went. She loves fetching sticks out of the creek and the bigger, the better.

Throwing sticks.

When we got her, she seemed ok but I'm sure she felt much better after this...

What did this dog eat?

Sorry for that nasty picture, but Mom, you asked for it. On the way home Azu took her co-pilot job seriously.

Dog is my Co-Pilot

Afterwards we stopped at Finn's for a little refreshment. Yes, I have sworn off alcohol, but the temptation of a Belgian brew was too much for me to resist. We enjoyed our time chatting with Russ. Sonja has more (and a better picture) over on her blog.

Russ goofing off for the camera.

Russ promised me more lucky water bottles. Yes, I race with Russ' used water bottles for good luck. Everyone's got a good luck charm, right? Mine are the waterbottles. I discovered Liz Hatch had a Texas quarter glued under her saddle when I was borrowing her bike. Sonja claims she doesn't have one. Let me know if you have one.

Diet Day 4 (of 9)

Today is the 4th day of my cleansing diet. I'm not supposed to eat real food on the "cleansing" days (days 3 and 4) but the way I see it, the human body needs more than 500 calories a day. Therefore, I ate 6 boiled eggs yesterday to supplement the "dog treats" and liquid they give you. I have given up all processed foods and alcohol, but I'm still having my coffee. You can't take that away from me. I guess my body will be free of toxins (except caffeine) after this diet, but my cholesterol will be sky-high. The hardest part about yesterday was sitting at my desk all day. I actually felt better when I walked to the gym at lunch and wailed on my chest and triceps and when I rode the rollers last night. Thankfully I do not have to work today and can keep myself occupied and my mind off food.

I'm not really doing this diet to lose weight, although I hope that it serves as a jumpstart into some better, more healthy eating habits. And I have to be honest here, I could stand to loose a few pounds. Back when I was a runner I weighed between 115 and 120. I had the skinniest legs around and my abs weren't too shabby either. At least you could see them as they weren't covered in the layer of fat they currently reside under. Oh, and did I mention my bra fat, you know that fat roll you get from your bra? When I took up cycling in 2006 I had no power. Not sure if this was a function of weight or not training hard on the bike. As I transformed myself into being more of a cyclist I started gaining weight (now about 130) but along with the weight came more power. With each pound gained I seemed to be able to stay with the pack a little longer until I finally worked my way up to not getting dropped at every darn race. I was even gaining weight while training harder on the bike, but of course, running less. It seems with cycling, at least around here, you don't need to be as concerned with weight. Yes I know, people spend all kinds of money on lightweight components, but unlike running, you can get by with a few extra pounds. Every pound in running is an extra 6 pounds of pressure on your knees. And it's not like we are scaling the Col du Galibier in our races. Except for a few of the road races around here, everything is pretty much flat.

So I'm not saying I'm fat or out of shape, but herein lies the problem... none of my clothes fit me anymore. I've had to wear jeans to work because they are the only thing fitting right now. None of my suits will fit over my fat a$$. I've even been wearing Sonja's pants because (gasp) they fit me... a little long considering she's 4 inches taller (yet only 10 lbs heavier). The prospect of buying a new wardrobe is quite an expensive one and I've got my eye on a set of carbon tubies so I don't want to buy new clothes when I have perfectly good ones already. And not to mention how much I hate shopping when it's not done in a bike shop.

I think 125 would be a good weight for me. I just have to be smart about it and not lose any power while I'm at it.

Anyway, I can see that I'm rambling and it's time to get ready for my ride.

Fun with Food and Friends (and a little bit of training, too)

After suffering thru sickness most of last week, I finally made it back on the bike. Jen decided to make me really suffer for taking time off by coming over and having a roller party on Friday. Well, she and Sonja were on trainers. I was on my rollers. She led us thru 1:30 hours of hell. I was so exhausted near the end of the workout that I rode off the rollers twice. Jen decided that I had not suffered enough so the three of us met up again Saturday for a ride up to Great Falls. Several hill repeats later and I am toast. My reward for all this was dinner. Turns out that Jen is a great cook and offered to whip up something special for a Saturday evening get-together.

Jen in the kitchen. She's as good of a cook as she is a bike racer, and that's pretty darn good.

Jen invited some friends over to the party. It was a pleasure meeting Tom and Eric, and getting to spend time with Anne. I'd met her at a race earlier, but didn't get to spend any time with her. She is a hoot and had me laughing all night long. Oh my gosh, some of the stories she and Marni were telling.

Tom, Eric, and Anne.

Azucar was on her best behavior. She only took one piece of bread off Anne's plate during dinner.

Marni and Jen with a hungry Azu looking on.

Jen prepared a pasta dish with chicken and chorizo.... so very yummy. The full dinner menu consisted of hummus and bread as an appetizer, pumpkin/squash soup, a nice salad, the pasta, then ice cream and cake with fruit for dessert.

Chicken/Chorizo Pasta

We participated in the customary "sobre mesa" after dinner. So many stories...

Typical sobre mesa.

I want to thank everyone that came over and contributed to a very memorable evening meeting new friends and getting to know others even better.

I should also mention...

My other new favorite bike racer, Andrea Peron.  He pushed me up quite a few hills today.  Thank you, Andrea.  I would not have made it otherwise.  Damn that 23 cassette.

Me and my new favorite bike racer

Rachel Lloyd. 9th at cross worlds and just one of the nicest people you will ever meet.  I still think Katie Compton rocks, but right now I am on a Rachel Lloyd high.

The George Jefferson Ride

With wind gusts predicted at 40 mph for Sunday, Sonja and I decided to hit the Mt. Vernon Trail for our ride. Along for the fun was K-Lo. Riding the trail turned out to be a great idea as we did not encounter any of the gale force winds so many others seem to be blogging about.

K-Lo and I refueling for the ride home.

We rode at a conversational pace so K-Lo was full of questions about training, racing and whatnot. She was also curious as to why we called it the George Jefferson ride. You see, a while ago a friend of mine asked me why Mt. Vernon was so famous and who lived there. Not being such a great history buff I was thinking to myself that it was either George Washington or Thomas Jefferson. My verbal reply, unfortunately, was "George Jefferson." Of course, I said this with such a straight face that my friend was totally confused and for a fraction of a second had to really think about it. Thus, the beginning of the "George Jefferson Ride."

We were impressed with the bike racks at the end of the trail. We are easily impressed.

One of the things that we love about this ride is the scenery. The trail is also very nice with several wooden bridges over marsh and lots of wildlife to spot along the way.

That's Sonja with a fort in the background. I'm not sure which and I will not venture a guess.

We brought the camera because the last time we did this ride we spotted 2 bald eagles. We were hoping they would be out again, but alas, all we saw were some "water chickens."

2 ducks aka "water chickens"

We wound up riding 3 hours. All in all, a good ride that was followed up with lunch at my favorite restaurant, Belga Cafe.

Savage Chickens: Friday Night Cartoon

For some reason, this cartoon really speaks to me.

Savage Chickens: Friday Night Cartoon

Great story I saw on the Today show this am

Dog survives avalanche

Best CD Ever

A while back I mentioned my friend Laura Wilson's CD "Kicking the Tires." Laura is truly an amazing person and one talented singer/musician. She released her CD back in August and I immediately fell in love with it. Sonja and I listened to it over and over again while driving throughout Colorado for the Leadville 100 and on the way to "bag" some 14ers. Since returning home I kind of let her music slip thru the cracks. I rarely listen to music at home; in the car I have XM satellite; and I usually use my Ipod for cycling and running, which I am embarassed to say consists of techno and dance music. Well, while flying out to Colorado recently I had my Ipod on shuffle and one of Laura's songs came on. I had forgotten how much I loved her music. I immediately switched my Ipod over to play the entire CD. Why am I blogging about this? Because I really do believe Laura's CD is one of the best out there. Please go here to buy one of her CD's and see for yourself. Even better, watch the video then I am sure you will want her CD. The video is a live perfromance from her CD release party which also happened to be a benefit for the Rocky Mountain Alzheimer’s Association.  Also check out The Goat's blog for more on Laura.