My bluetick coonhound, Gunnie, sure does like turtles. I found her one day in the backyard, trying to get this turtle to play with her...as you can imagine, the turtle didn't want to play, and I was getting tired of hearing her bark, so I brought the turtle in and filmed this video. I thought it was hilarious. Maybe you'll find it annoyingly cute?
I ended up putting the turtle in our front yard as a way for it to escape. A couple hours later, I saw it hiding out in our plants around the big tree. The next day, it somehow found its way back into the fenced-in backyard. How? Hmmm, I guess I'll never know. Gunnie was barking at it again, so I picked it up, and put it back in the front yard. It rained later that day, and I saw it hiding under the same plants near the big tree. Then I never saw it again. I wonder where it scurried off to?
I should've kept him as a pet. My childhood best friends had 2 turtles as pets - I remember helping them clean out their tank once a month. They were really smelly. Are all turtles smelly?
A few years ago, I found and kept a frog as a pet for 2 or 3 days. I even went to PetSmart to get him some crickets to eat. But then I realized that if I really wanted to keep him as a forever pet, I'd have to get a tank and spend a bunch of money that I didn't have. So I set him free.
Someday I'd love to have a tropical fish tank, and maybe a snake. Ahh, the wonder of animals! If I could afford to have a houseful of critters of all types, I would!
But for now, I'll just stick with my hound dog lover-girls. Gunnie and Taylor provide enough love for now.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Mountain Biking in Bermuda
So Rob and I took a vacation to Bermuda last month, Oct 18-22 to be exact. The official reason for the trip was to participate in the Round The Sound Open Water swim. We went with our swim team friends; Gretchen and Jeb, Heidi, Billy, Lindsay and Tommy, Elizabeth, Martha and a couple others from the THAT masters team.
Anyway, this blog post is going to be about bikes, not swimming...
On our first full day on the island, Rob and I asked our hotel concierge where we could rent bikes to ride the Railway Trail we'd read about online. He offered this advice: "Well, pretty much the only place to rent bikes on the island is at Eve's Cycles...They're real nice and affordable and they'll take care of you...Let me call them to make sure they have them in stock." - and he proceeded to get us map, point it out, jot down the bus route we should take to get there and all that jazz. We crossed our fingers, hoping that the rental bikes were of decent quality.
So we get to Eve's Cycles and we pay $30 each for a full day rental for these crap bikes:
We actually refer to them as "pedal bikes" there, because if you just say "bikes", people will think you are referring to the other, most popular form of transportation on the island, bikes with motors - mopeds. We're pretty peeved at the crappy bike quality, but figure that with our own helmets and pedals/shoes, they'll at least feel okay and get the job done.
Danielle on her bike in front of the bike shop.
Rob on his bike.
So we hop on the Railway Trail that we read about here: http://www.bermuda4u.com/Transport/bermuda_transport_cycling.html
To keep the mopeds off the trail, they installed these barrier things at every road intersection. Only a few had a bike-able ride around option. So we were forced off our bikes too many times to count during the ride. At the first few crossings, I thought I'd be funny to perform a cyclocross dismount and running remount - but that got old real fast, and by that I mean TIRED, since our bikes weighed somewhere around 45 pounds!
We rode the Railway Trail in a westward direction from the bike shop in Paget. It was mostly flat, with a few exceptions, like this one:
Looks like it'd be fun on a "real bike", huh? On our rental bikes, we walked down it, not because we lack the skills to do so safely, no, rather I blame the geometry on the bikes. They were designed for the 62 year old retirees who appear in those magazine ads for Irritable Bowel Syndrome medications - riding through a grassy meadow, their backs straight and perpendicular to the ground.
This one was so steep that I didn't dare even walk my bike up this one. This trail led up to Gibb's Hill Lighthouse.
I bet that would be really fun on my Super D bike!
All along the trail, we saw signs like this one:
Every view was stunningly beautiful. We stopped a lot to just look out and stare at the water. One time, we even stopped to pick out our favorite house color in a neighborhood (I couldn't decide between the turquoise blue house or the salmon orange one).
When it came time to eat lunch, we stopped in a less touristy area, in the Southampton Parish. The first restaurant we found didn't take VISA, so we scrounged up the money we had left over from taking out cash at the airport. We had 11 dollars and some change. So we check out the menu to see if we can afford anything there, and much to our surprise, we can.
We leave the bikes parked out front, no lock, only our helmets snapped around a spoke and the frame. We figure they'll be fine, as long as we keep an eye on them. We sit at the counter and ask nicely for menus. We decide, we fold up the menus, and sit patiently waiting for someone to take our order. In the 5 minutes we spend waiting, 2 people come in separately and get their orders taken right away (they were locals, knew the waitresses by name). We think it's weird, but we don't want to be rude and demand service. We eventually speak up and ask, "Can we please place an order?" The waitress we asked replied, "You haven't ordered yet? I thought the other waitress had you?" Nope. She asks the other waitress, and she says, no, I thought you had them? Laughter on all ends takes place. We smile, and we explain that we were afraid that we'd pissed them off somehow, and that's why they weren't taking our order! So we feel better about the whole lunch ordering thing, but man, are we hungry! We had been riding for about 2 hours at this point.
For $11, we both enjoyed a homestyle chicken sandwich and some onion rings. Not bad for the price.
After lunch, we get back on the bikes and continue pedaling, in search of the end point at the Royal Naval Dockyard. We had no idea how far, how fast, or how much longer we had, but at this point, we were okay with that, as our "comfort" bikes hadn't yet turned uncomfortable.
There are lots of things to stop and see along the way, like the historic Fort Scaur.
Fort Scaur view from the top
Fort Scaur info
At some point in between the Fort and the Dockyard, my butt, hands and wrists started to hurt pretty bad. I should've brought a pair of cycling gloves from home. Even though I was wearing a decent pair of cycling shorts, my butt hurt from the seat. It was one of those huge, winged shape types with springs underneath. I guess it was just too soft. I don't know really though, as I've never had to ride more than a block or two on a bike of this price point.
Once we got to the Dockyard, we'd been riding for a little over 3 hours total. We did a little shopping at this indoor mall, buying a Bermuda t-shirt each, a candy bar and some vitamin-enhanced water. At this point, my butt and hands still hurt, so we decided to take a ferry back to Hamilton, then ride a short distance from Hamilton to Paget to return the bikes. Here's a short video as we approached the ferry.
Oooh, we're bad. We didn't stop at the stop sign! :(
Speaking of stop signs, early on in the ride, I forgot to look to my RIGHT for any oncoming traffic and almost got plowed over by a local. Oops. From then on, Rob had to remind me to look right at intersections.
The ferry ride was great! It was so much faster than the Ocracoke ferry I took earlier this year. I think I was just happy to have my butt off that horrible bike for 20 minutes.
Back in Hamilton, we stayed off the Railway Trail, and instead braved the traffic downtown a couple of miles until we got back to Paget and the bike shop. Here's the last video clip of the day, riding in traffic:
After that, we caught a bus back to our hotel, napped for a bit, and then....
I will continue my Bermuda story blog later. Promise.
Anyway, this blog post is going to be about bikes, not swimming...
On our first full day on the island, Rob and I asked our hotel concierge where we could rent bikes to ride the Railway Trail we'd read about online. He offered this advice: "Well, pretty much the only place to rent bikes on the island is at Eve's Cycles...They're real nice and affordable and they'll take care of you...Let me call them to make sure they have them in stock." - and he proceeded to get us map, point it out, jot down the bus route we should take to get there and all that jazz. We crossed our fingers, hoping that the rental bikes were of decent quality.
So we get to Eve's Cycles and we pay $30 each for a full day rental for these crap bikes:
We actually refer to them as "pedal bikes" there, because if you just say "bikes", people will think you are referring to the other, most popular form of transportation on the island, bikes with motors - mopeds. We're pretty peeved at the crappy bike quality, but figure that with our own helmets and pedals/shoes, they'll at least feel okay and get the job done.
Danielle on her bike in front of the bike shop.
Rob on his bike.
So we hop on the Railway Trail that we read about here: http://www.bermuda4u.com/Transport/bermuda_transport_cycling.html
To keep the mopeds off the trail, they installed these barrier things at every road intersection. Only a few had a bike-able ride around option. So we were forced off our bikes too many times to count during the ride. At the first few crossings, I thought I'd be funny to perform a cyclocross dismount and running remount - but that got old real fast, and by that I mean TIRED, since our bikes weighed somewhere around 45 pounds!
We rode the Railway Trail in a westward direction from the bike shop in Paget. It was mostly flat, with a few exceptions, like this one:
Looks like it'd be fun on a "real bike", huh? On our rental bikes, we walked down it, not because we lack the skills to do so safely, no, rather I blame the geometry on the bikes. They were designed for the 62 year old retirees who appear in those magazine ads for Irritable Bowel Syndrome medications - riding through a grassy meadow, their backs straight and perpendicular to the ground.
This one was so steep that I didn't dare even walk my bike up this one. This trail led up to Gibb's Hill Lighthouse.
I bet that would be really fun on my Super D bike!
All along the trail, we saw signs like this one:
Every view was stunningly beautiful. We stopped a lot to just look out and stare at the water. One time, we even stopped to pick out our favorite house color in a neighborhood (I couldn't decide between the turquoise blue house or the salmon orange one).
When it came time to eat lunch, we stopped in a less touristy area, in the Southampton Parish. The first restaurant we found didn't take VISA, so we scrounged up the money we had left over from taking out cash at the airport. We had 11 dollars and some change. So we check out the menu to see if we can afford anything there, and much to our surprise, we can.
We leave the bikes parked out front, no lock, only our helmets snapped around a spoke and the frame. We figure they'll be fine, as long as we keep an eye on them. We sit at the counter and ask nicely for menus. We decide, we fold up the menus, and sit patiently waiting for someone to take our order. In the 5 minutes we spend waiting, 2 people come in separately and get their orders taken right away (they were locals, knew the waitresses by name). We think it's weird, but we don't want to be rude and demand service. We eventually speak up and ask, "Can we please place an order?" The waitress we asked replied, "You haven't ordered yet? I thought the other waitress had you?" Nope. She asks the other waitress, and she says, no, I thought you had them? Laughter on all ends takes place. We smile, and we explain that we were afraid that we'd pissed them off somehow, and that's why they weren't taking our order! So we feel better about the whole lunch ordering thing, but man, are we hungry! We had been riding for about 2 hours at this point.
For $11, we both enjoyed a homestyle chicken sandwich and some onion rings. Not bad for the price.
After lunch, we get back on the bikes and continue pedaling, in search of the end point at the Royal Naval Dockyard. We had no idea how far, how fast, or how much longer we had, but at this point, we were okay with that, as our "comfort" bikes hadn't yet turned uncomfortable.
There are lots of things to stop and see along the way, like the historic Fort Scaur.
Fort Scaur view from the top
Fort Scaur info
At some point in between the Fort and the Dockyard, my butt, hands and wrists started to hurt pretty bad. I should've brought a pair of cycling gloves from home. Even though I was wearing a decent pair of cycling shorts, my butt hurt from the seat. It was one of those huge, winged shape types with springs underneath. I guess it was just too soft. I don't know really though, as I've never had to ride more than a block or two on a bike of this price point.
Once we got to the Dockyard, we'd been riding for a little over 3 hours total. We did a little shopping at this indoor mall, buying a Bermuda t-shirt each, a candy bar and some vitamin-enhanced water. At this point, my butt and hands still hurt, so we decided to take a ferry back to Hamilton, then ride a short distance from Hamilton to Paget to return the bikes. Here's a short video as we approached the ferry.
Oooh, we're bad. We didn't stop at the stop sign! :(
Speaking of stop signs, early on in the ride, I forgot to look to my RIGHT for any oncoming traffic and almost got plowed over by a local. Oops. From then on, Rob had to remind me to look right at intersections.
The ferry ride was great! It was so much faster than the Ocracoke ferry I took earlier this year. I think I was just happy to have my butt off that horrible bike for 20 minutes.
Back in Hamilton, we stayed off the Railway Trail, and instead braved the traffic downtown a couple of miles until we got back to Paget and the bike shop. Here's the last video clip of the day, riding in traffic:
After that, we caught a bus back to our hotel, napped for a bit, and then....
I will continue my Bermuda story blog later. Promise.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Five Random Things
So I was tagged to do this list of 5 Random Things by my awesome triathlete friend Alicia Parr. I'm still new to the blogging scene, so when I found out that I had to post up my list, and then tag other people to do it, I have to admit that my first thought was "Oh crap!" I started fretting about what the heck my list would include, should I try to be funny, or just be boring, who am I going to tag? Because who the heck even reads my blog anyway? Well, I know Alicia Parr reads it, so there's bound to be more...what the heck, here goes. I've always been a good story-teller, so I'll entertain you with 5 interesting stories you might not have known about me before.
1.) I committed my first crime at the ripe old age of 4, while living on Little Rock AFB. The bratty next door neighbor boy and I got the grand idea that we should sift through people's mailboxes on our street and steal the free sample packets of Sea Breeze lotion. We took the lotion packets, ran off behind our houses where there was a ditch that we often frequented during backyard playtime. I guess we apparently opened all the packets and smeared the lotion all over us, or at least that's the story my mom liked to tell when she wanted to embarrass me in front of high school boyfriends before jetting off to the prom. I do remember being in the ditch, seeing my mom's face looking real mad and being scolded. I'm pretty sure I got a spankin' for that one!
Side note: check it out - here's my old neighborhood there. You can still see the ditch in the satellite map image! 104 Montana Circle
2.) I once met a complete stranger on the internet and flew 2000 miles away to be his date at his fancy med school party. Okay...before you get any strange ideas in your head, let me explain the details. I was 21, a senior in college, and the vice-president of the Chico State Cycling Team. Anyway, the dude's name was Eric. He was a cyclist, med student, and he posted on the usenet newsgroup rec.bicycles.racing. I met Eric during my junior year when I got involved in a topic about sexy women who race bikes. Trying to be funny, I responded with a post that said "well I don't know about you guys out there, but I think I'm pretty sexy....!!! hee-hee!" So I got a bunch of responses to that (99% positive), some that went to the newsgroup, and some that went straight to my personal email. Eric replied with a comment that really chapped my hide. He was basically trying to flirt with me like a 4th grader does, you know, by pointing out things about me that were not so nice - and then relishing the attention I gave him in return. We ended up emailing each other for months, then talking on the phone, and he even sent me a birthday gift when I turned 21. Even though he knew about my long-term, long-distance relationship with my boyfriend back home, which was rocky at times, he never confessed to liking me, always pledging to just be my friend. So when he asked me to be his date because he couldn't find one, I said sure, why not. The only problem? I was a broke college student and I couldn't afford a plane ticket. No worries, he paid for my ticket - I remember being a tad scared upon arrival at the Peoria, IL airport, fearing that he could be an axe murderer, but my worries were relieved when he turned out to be a normal guy. He was the perfect gentleman during my visit. I slept in his bed while he slept on the floor, he took me to visit Chicago and I met his parents, and he didn't even try to hold my hand or anything during our real date to the med school party thing. We remained email friends after that for another year, but then lost touch.
3.) I have truly hitch-hiked three times in my life. Once in Chico during college: when I got a flat on my bike ride home from the University Farm, and I didn't have my pump with me for some stupid reason. I was going to be late for work if I didn't get home soon, so out went my thumb. Some nice, old farmer guy picked me and my bike up and dropped me off at my apartment. The second time was during my summer home in Vacaville when I was working as a swim coach/instructor/guard. I didn't have a car then since I'd totaled it in an accident early on in the summer. I was at work, but had a break and I needed to go to the doctor for some reason. The Kaiser clinic was just down the road, oh, I don't know, about 3 miles away. I was in great shape then, so I ran there, saw the doc, then ran back. But the trip was taking longer than I had planned. I looked at my watch about halfway back to the pool - I knew I'd never make it back on time to teach my next lesson. I didn't want to be late, so I stuck out my thumb. This time I was picked up by a minivan full of men who were stinky, construction worker-type guys. My 3rd time was just last year, when I was taking an anatomy/physiology class at NC Central. I was at the bus stop on the corner of Highway 98 and the street I live on, North Adams, waiting to catch the bus to school. This average-looking guy in a nice SUV stopped and asked me if I knew where Taylor Street was. While I was recalling to him where it was, the #13 bus whizzed by us, and I said, "CRAP! That was my bus!" So he offered to give me a ride, if I showed him Taylor Street along the way. Along the way, he asked me if I'd agree to go out to lunch with him sometime. I smiled, thanked him for the compliment, and told him that I was married. His last comment to me, as he dropped me off in front of my class was "Tell your husband he's a lucky guy!" (If my mom reads this, I know I'm gonna get a verbal spankin')
4.) I was a Girl Scout for a few years during elementary school. One time, we had a special event planned for a lip-sync/dance presentation. I was a mix between shy and outgoing, depending on the situation and who I'll be performing in front of. My mom helped me pick out the "oldies" song Lollipop, she dressed me up in a cute outfit with ribbons in my pigtails, bought me one of those giant lollipops that was all rainbow colored, you know, the ones that took you a week to eat... I practiced every day for weeks before the big event. My mom and brother were my audience during practice sessions, but I remember being scared about the big day, thinking that I'd mess up and everyone would laugh at me. In the end I performed it very well, and all I can say is, thank God this wasn't saved on a video camera. I remember doing that finger-in-the-mouth POP! sound as part of my performance! I'm getting red-faced just thinking about this.
5.) My last few races as a collegiate cyclist: This is a pic of me during one of my last collegiate mountain bike races in 2000 - this was taken by mom in Chico, as she had come up for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with me. This was the first bike race she'd ever watched, so it was real nice to have her there cheering me on.
A few days after this pic was taken, I drove up to Sandpoint, ID with 2 of my teammates, Brooke Henderson and Aren Timmel. The site of the Collegiate Nationals race was the Schweitzer Mountain ski resort. I wasn't in the best of shape that season, as I'd decided earlier that summer that I wasn't going to race my final year. I was tired of all the time my training took up, and I felt like I didn't have any extra time left over to just be a college student and experience the things I felt I should be experiencing. But in September, when school started and I'd met Brooke, I felt like I couldn't give up what I'd started, and Brooke would be a great training partner, so I changed my mind. Unfortunately, since it was my last semester in school, and I was only taking as many credits/courses as I needed, that meant I wasn't in school the full 12 credit hours that the NCCA requires for National racing eligibility. I think I was taking 9 credit hours. Anyway, I went up there to be race support for Brooke and Aren and the few others from my team. Once up there, I remember a conversation I had with our conference director who knew me from my participation in the past annual WCCC meetings I'd attend. He asked me if I was racing and I said no, and then explained why. Then he left, schmoozed and pulled some strings with the national director. The end result was that I was allowed to race, as they decided to make an exception for me. Yay! The next day I pre-rode the course, and hung out, cleaning and talking bikes with my teammates in our super-posh ski-lodge townhouse that we shared with a couple of other teams from around the country. Finally, on race day, I lined up with 60 other women, including my teammate Brooke. The race started and we took off. Over the next 24 miles, I climbed that steep fire-road ascent 3 times, cried in pain over my aching/sore arms and pinky fingers as I grabbed 8 fingers of brakes almost all the way down...and crossed the finish line almost 3 hours later. I don't remember the exact finish time, and I can't find the results anywhere online! It was one of the hardest races I've ever done. I ended up placing 42nd, just 1 place back from Brooke. I remember seeing Aren and the other team boys cheering for us as we were finishing, and looking back now, 7 years later, I think I will remember this as one of my best overall collegiate experiences. I did one more race the week after getting back home - the Stanford race - and I DNF'ed because I was just so dang tired, emotionally and physically tired from the driving, racing, studying, and lack of recovery time between the 2 races.
Hmm, this trip down memory lane is making me sleepy... I guess that means it's time to get up and get moving. I've got a staff meeting to attend in a little bit anyway. Wow, I love Sundays!
Dang - here comes the part of the blog where I have to "tag" 5 others to write their rendition of their 5 Random Things. I don't know too many people who blog, so here goes:
1.) Old friend from college days, Scott Pon
2.) Newest friend of mine, organizer of the Raleigh Rides group, Jennifer Lewis
3.) Friend and avid bike commuter in Durham, Phillip Barron
4.) Coaching friend of mine, who I admire a lot, Greg Earhart
5.) Some dude I went mountain biking with on Labor Day up in Michigan, Alden
Have a super day! I know I am.
1.) I committed my first crime at the ripe old age of 4, while living on Little Rock AFB. The bratty next door neighbor boy and I got the grand idea that we should sift through people's mailboxes on our street and steal the free sample packets of Sea Breeze lotion. We took the lotion packets, ran off behind our houses where there was a ditch that we often frequented during backyard playtime. I guess we apparently opened all the packets and smeared the lotion all over us, or at least that's the story my mom liked to tell when she wanted to embarrass me in front of high school boyfriends before jetting off to the prom. I do remember being in the ditch, seeing my mom's face looking real mad and being scolded. I'm pretty sure I got a spankin' for that one!
Side note: check it out - here's my old neighborhood there. You can still see the ditch in the satellite map image! 104 Montana Circle
2.) I once met a complete stranger on the internet and flew 2000 miles away to be his date at his fancy med school party. Okay...before you get any strange ideas in your head, let me explain the details. I was 21, a senior in college, and the vice-president of the Chico State Cycling Team. Anyway, the dude's name was Eric. He was a cyclist, med student, and he posted on the usenet newsgroup rec.bicycles.racing. I met Eric during my junior year when I got involved in a topic about sexy women who race bikes. Trying to be funny, I responded with a post that said "well I don't know about you guys out there, but I think I'm pretty sexy....!!! hee-hee!" So I got a bunch of responses to that (99% positive), some that went to the newsgroup, and some that went straight to my personal email. Eric replied with a comment that really chapped my hide. He was basically trying to flirt with me like a 4th grader does, you know, by pointing out things about me that were not so nice - and then relishing the attention I gave him in return. We ended up emailing each other for months, then talking on the phone, and he even sent me a birthday gift when I turned 21. Even though he knew about my long-term, long-distance relationship with my boyfriend back home, which was rocky at times, he never confessed to liking me, always pledging to just be my friend. So when he asked me to be his date because he couldn't find one, I said sure, why not. The only problem? I was a broke college student and I couldn't afford a plane ticket. No worries, he paid for my ticket - I remember being a tad scared upon arrival at the Peoria, IL airport, fearing that he could be an axe murderer, but my worries were relieved when he turned out to be a normal guy. He was the perfect gentleman during my visit. I slept in his bed while he slept on the floor, he took me to visit Chicago and I met his parents, and he didn't even try to hold my hand or anything during our real date to the med school party thing. We remained email friends after that for another year, but then lost touch.
3.) I have truly hitch-hiked three times in my life. Once in Chico during college: when I got a flat on my bike ride home from the University Farm, and I didn't have my pump with me for some stupid reason. I was going to be late for work if I didn't get home soon, so out went my thumb. Some nice, old farmer guy picked me and my bike up and dropped me off at my apartment. The second time was during my summer home in Vacaville when I was working as a swim coach/instructor/guard. I didn't have a car then since I'd totaled it in an accident early on in the summer. I was at work, but had a break and I needed to go to the doctor for some reason. The Kaiser clinic was just down the road, oh, I don't know, about 3 miles away. I was in great shape then, so I ran there, saw the doc, then ran back. But the trip was taking longer than I had planned. I looked at my watch about halfway back to the pool - I knew I'd never make it back on time to teach my next lesson. I didn't want to be late, so I stuck out my thumb. This time I was picked up by a minivan full of men who were stinky, construction worker-type guys. My 3rd time was just last year, when I was taking an anatomy/physiology class at NC Central. I was at the bus stop on the corner of Highway 98 and the street I live on, North Adams, waiting to catch the bus to school. This average-looking guy in a nice SUV stopped and asked me if I knew where Taylor Street was. While I was recalling to him where it was, the #13 bus whizzed by us, and I said, "CRAP! That was my bus!" So he offered to give me a ride, if I showed him Taylor Street along the way. Along the way, he asked me if I'd agree to go out to lunch with him sometime. I smiled, thanked him for the compliment, and told him that I was married. His last comment to me, as he dropped me off in front of my class was "Tell your husband he's a lucky guy!" (If my mom reads this, I know I'm gonna get a verbal spankin')
4.) I was a Girl Scout for a few years during elementary school. One time, we had a special event planned for a lip-sync/dance presentation. I was a mix between shy and outgoing, depending on the situation and who I'll be performing in front of. My mom helped me pick out the "oldies" song Lollipop, she dressed me up in a cute outfit with ribbons in my pigtails, bought me one of those giant lollipops that was all rainbow colored, you know, the ones that took you a week to eat... I practiced every day for weeks before the big event. My mom and brother were my audience during practice sessions, but I remember being scared about the big day, thinking that I'd mess up and everyone would laugh at me. In the end I performed it very well, and all I can say is, thank God this wasn't saved on a video camera. I remember doing that finger-in-the-mouth POP! sound as part of my performance! I'm getting red-faced just thinking about this.
5.) My last few races as a collegiate cyclist: This is a pic of me during one of my last collegiate mountain bike races in 2000 - this was taken by mom in Chico, as she had come up for the weekend to celebrate my birthday with me. This was the first bike race she'd ever watched, so it was real nice to have her there cheering me on.
A few days after this pic was taken, I drove up to Sandpoint, ID with 2 of my teammates, Brooke Henderson and Aren Timmel. The site of the Collegiate Nationals race was the Schweitzer Mountain ski resort. I wasn't in the best of shape that season, as I'd decided earlier that summer that I wasn't going to race my final year. I was tired of all the time my training took up, and I felt like I didn't have any extra time left over to just be a college student and experience the things I felt I should be experiencing. But in September, when school started and I'd met Brooke, I felt like I couldn't give up what I'd started, and Brooke would be a great training partner, so I changed my mind. Unfortunately, since it was my last semester in school, and I was only taking as many credits/courses as I needed, that meant I wasn't in school the full 12 credit hours that the NCCA requires for National racing eligibility. I think I was taking 9 credit hours. Anyway, I went up there to be race support for Brooke and Aren and the few others from my team. Once up there, I remember a conversation I had with our conference director who knew me from my participation in the past annual WCCC meetings I'd attend. He asked me if I was racing and I said no, and then explained why. Then he left, schmoozed and pulled some strings with the national director. The end result was that I was allowed to race, as they decided to make an exception for me. Yay! The next day I pre-rode the course, and hung out, cleaning and talking bikes with my teammates in our super-posh ski-lodge townhouse that we shared with a couple of other teams from around the country. Finally, on race day, I lined up with 60 other women, including my teammate Brooke. The race started and we took off. Over the next 24 miles, I climbed that steep fire-road ascent 3 times, cried in pain over my aching/sore arms and pinky fingers as I grabbed 8 fingers of brakes almost all the way down...and crossed the finish line almost 3 hours later. I don't remember the exact finish time, and I can't find the results anywhere online! It was one of the hardest races I've ever done. I ended up placing 42nd, just 1 place back from Brooke. I remember seeing Aren and the other team boys cheering for us as we were finishing, and looking back now, 7 years later, I think I will remember this as one of my best overall collegiate experiences. I did one more race the week after getting back home - the Stanford race - and I DNF'ed because I was just so dang tired, emotionally and physically tired from the driving, racing, studying, and lack of recovery time between the 2 races.
Hmm, this trip down memory lane is making me sleepy... I guess that means it's time to get up and get moving. I've got a staff meeting to attend in a little bit anyway. Wow, I love Sundays!
Dang - here comes the part of the blog where I have to "tag" 5 others to write their rendition of their 5 Random Things. I don't know too many people who blog, so here goes:
1.) Old friend from college days, Scott Pon
2.) Newest friend of mine, organizer of the Raleigh Rides group, Jennifer Lewis
3.) Friend and avid bike commuter in Durham, Phillip Barron
4.) Coaching friend of mine, who I admire a lot, Greg Earhart
5.) Some dude I went mountain biking with on Labor Day up in Michigan, Alden
Have a super day! I know I am.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Finally, an online quiz that wasn't a waste of time
I just finished eating lunch. Red beans and rice sure didn't miss me today.
To keep me entertained while I ate lunch, I followed a link I saw posted on Rob's fark account page. Something called Stupid Tester. So I clicked it and took the test.
Turns out, I'm pretty much not stupid. It was actually an enjoyable quiz that made me think a little bit, so if you're bored, and don't know what to do for 10 minutes, I recommend taking the test. No annoying pop-up ads, no million questions to answer before you get your results...just a test and your score. Though you won't find the answers to the quiz anywhere. You either know them or you don't.
Have fun, I know I did.
Now, I must go do something productive. Yeeha!
To keep me entertained while I ate lunch, I followed a link I saw posted on Rob's fark account page. Something called Stupid Tester. So I clicked it and took the test.
Turns out, I'm pretty much not stupid. It was actually an enjoyable quiz that made me think a little bit, so if you're bored, and don't know what to do for 10 minutes, I recommend taking the test. No annoying pop-up ads, no million questions to answer before you get your results...just a test and your score. Though you won't find the answers to the quiz anywhere. You either know them or you don't.
Have fun, I know I did.
Now, I must go do something productive. Yeeha!
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