22.44

that'll be lower by the end of the week. pretty impressive for this steel frame.
fisher ferrous 29
bontrager carbon switchblade
dt 190 hubs laced to stans arch rims with some dt super comps
ust python tires
bontrager race x lite stem
bontrager big sweep bar
king pewter headset
juicy ultimate brakes 160f 140r
x.o twist shifter
bontrager grips
bontrager race x lite post
bontrager kick ass saddle
noir cranks with spot guard
salsa 34t ring
n gear chain stop
pc 990 cassette
pc 991 hp chain
roach chainstay guard
crank bros pedals

the weekend

the wedding was okay. food wasn't that great but it did it's job.
saturday was the chirpractor/napropathy guy. it was cool. nice lower back massage.
no adjustment yet. my muscles on my left side are super tight so he wanted to loosen those guys up before doing anything else. it's still sore (and to the touch now from the "massage") but at least i can tie my shoes and change zoe's diaper.
no rides on saturday. lots of errands and stuff.
we built john's ferrous on saturday. it's very sweet. i'm jealous.
sunday i went for a ride. if you want to call it that. i sucked! but at least i was out. 20 miles solo on the eriksen. i changed my post to the ti thinking it might "give" a little more... but now i don't feel like i set it up perfect. i think the seat is a little low.
the wind was brutal on the way to the trails but once i hit the trees it was beautiful. almost a little hot. the smell in the woods was of hot fallen leaves. i've been wheezy. i wonder if there is anything i can even do this time of year or what?
i'm not going to think about it. looks like rain.

friday and ...

i'm getting out of here in like 10 minutes.
rush home and get showered and dressed for a wedding.
i'd really like to do fall color fest but i have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow to hopefully get cracked into shape.
ride at some point. before or after?
sunday is open...
chores, kids, rides, errands... maybe go to breakfast.
there's a pamba race sunday...

crispy wheezes

i rode tonight real quick. 14 pavement miles. it was chilly. i remembered my shuffle which was amazing.
the cooler air made me wheeze a little. hard to catch my breath. i told myself it was because i was hungry. sounds dumb, but anything for it not to be a sign of things to come.
ups called today and said they were making a delivery on thursday between 8am and 7pm... if somebody isn't here to sign it gets sent back. f*ckers.

home early

zoe has a croupe-like cough. took her to the doc to make sure nothing was in her lungs. i have asthma and am super sensitive to anything related to breathing and coughing. i know its better to be safe than sorry.
she's only got a head cold. i figured as much but i wanted to be sure. and besides when you go in they always tell you what they can take- like children's benadryl allergy and give you the dosage. if you go to the store to get it and ask for the doseage the pharmacist says talk to your doctor. if you call your doctor, they say we have to see them.
ride tonight? it's john's night. maybe he'll be back early? if not, i'll bust a light out.
a few errands tonight. thinking about it john may be too excited to ride... hal
o 3 came out today and he pre-ordered it.
not only is he a bike geek, he's a video game nerd. he made fun of himself last night because he was watching the countdown for the release of halo 3.
i took the time to really stretch my back. it helped a lot. but i still think i need to do something about it.
edit: maybe i won't be going for a ride. i just looked at the radar. yikes!

my back kills

i'm guessing my chair at work is aggravating it. i wasn't able to bend down and change zoe this morning but it loosened up later. then i got to work. it was painful at work. my back was constantly on my mind as i felt it twinge all day.
no ride tonight. responsibility made me go to the store and then come home and pay bills since i didn't do it this weekend.
i'm in panic mode. i need to get out and ride. summer is gone and the snow and cold will be here before we know it. yes, i know you can ride in the cold and snow, but it's not my favorite.
bike building this weekend hopefully. i think i miss it. i usually have built something new again by now.
i think i sold the lemond. i'm kind of bummed as i don't need to get rid of it at this point. my wheels have long since been paid for which was my original reason for selling it. but at the same time, the offer is there, so i'll take it. maybe i'll get a frame for myself and build a 1x9. i just got a noir ss carbon crank with carbon guard and i have wheels (cranks and wheels are always the hard part (expensive) part). everything else is easy and/or here already. i know exactly what i want. it's just a matter of being able to get it. i hate being obsessive sometimes.

tater bake

my start sucked and my finish sucked. the middle was pretty good.
i was 5th from last up the start climb. passed a few people and then hung my head low as i tried to climb like i'm capable of for the first part of the course but it just wasn't coming to me. i did eventually work my ass off that lap and it showed as i grabbed onto the train of the lead sport girls by the end of the lap. i knew i'd lose them at the start climb because i had given so much already just to find them. i figured i'd recover a bit and catch them again. and then i decided to eat. i still can't eat on a bike during a race. i even bought a gu bottle but it's on my desk at work. anyway. it was the perfect place to eat had i been able to open it. i tried and tried. couldn't get it open and then a couple girls passed me. wtf. i suck. so i chased with gu packet hanging out of my mouth. i decided one more try to get it open, couldn't, so tucked it back in my shorts as now there definitely wasn't an opportunity to eat it. i had to dig to catch people again. i was cursing myself for awhile. i finally got it open but wasn't able to drink for a few, so i had a gu glob stuck in my throat.
i saw a few sport women which gave me a little bit of rush to grab on. i did. passed a couple but was feeling my efforts. i was tired. i dreaded the start of my last lap. my back was starting to act up a bit. i tried to ignore it, which i could for the most part unless i had to really push, which for me was on the steeper climbs. i made the mistake of thinking that walking up the steep climb there i wouldn't lose much time and i'd be able to stretch my back. sucky move. i wanted a do over.
i knew i'd catch a couple girls on the last sections of singletrack as i had on every lap and would hopefully hold it for the finish... that is UNTIL my cheer pack exploded into my mouth and went in my lungs (i suck at eating on a bike). i felt like i was drowning for a second. i couldn't breath and then i started coughing violently. i had never coughed that hard before... it just kept coming. i couldn't even see i was coughing so hard. after that happened i knew i wouldn't catch anybody. there wasn't enough trail left. it didn't keep me from trying but i was slightly deflated that i was taken out by something so dumb. i would've rather crashed or flatted... i think.
anyway, like i said, sucky start and finish, but the middle was good. i did some cool stuff for myself and learned a few things as well (some of which i learned already).
coming back from so far back in the pack at the start and then catching the lead (i think there were a couple girls still ahead of them but still) was awesome. i felt really good about that. my starts are never good, but they are never that bad as it was today. i wasn't able to hold it after i caught the pack, but am pretty satisfied considering i ride maybe 15 miles a week. i rode more aggressively to pass people than i ever had so i was happy about that as well. i was able to dig a few times on my second and third laps- i just wasn't able to hold it. i didn't finish thinking i could've pushed harder here or there... i gave it my all today. (i finished thinking i'm a moron who needs to learn how to eat on a bike) i'd like to think if i had a good night's sleep on saturday (or even friday) maybe my start would've been better. but at the same time if my start was better i wouldn't of had that feel good moment of catching the train. hopefully some day i'll be able to ride with the train once i've caught it instead of thinking about going to the side of the trail and dying if only for 5 minutes.
i had hoped to hit the top 10 today and missed it by just over 20 seconds.
i'm still coughing from that pack. at least it was easy to open.

sram news

zipp.

the small things

i just found out the shop i used to work at is the industry 9 service center for our area. sweet.
2 hours to drive into work this a.m. lame. sitting in the car doesn't agree with my back. in fact that's when it's the worst. the aleve is a dream right now though compared to advil.
the eriksen is what i would describe as a mullet. all business up front with the easton wheel and a party in the back with the orange i9.
edit: i'm not bringing my wheel to the shop. one of the guys said they didn't have the special i9 tool. you mean like a park spoke wrench? no thanks. i don't want my wheel to be their guinea pig.

bent

i have been riding bikes since i was a kid. cycling has been a lifestyle for years now.
in all my years of racing and riding i have never broken a bike part or had to send it for repair.
looking at my xray 800s wrong does not count. and my sid lockout not locking out doesn't count either, pure sucks.
i didn't pack my bike to ride after work tonight. i planned on hitting the road with my mtb or road bike. but then beth called and wanted to ride. the plan was bring our lights start at the mesa and then hit the paved loop and call it a night. sweet.
we hit the mesa in style. beth on her white and pink blur and me on my eriksen.
we rode the mesa to the outer loop and then the outer leg of the outer loop. i figured we'd hop back onto the mesa at the short cut and bypass all the more "dangerous" stuff as it was super dark. well since i talk too much i missed the short cut. we were so passed it, it wasn't worth going back. i should've known the ride wasn't going to end well when i hit my chainring on mike's log bridge. i've never done that. my mind wasn't really on riding. i was thinking about where beth was, doing wheelies and trying to aim my light to find deer eyeballs so i could see them glow. like grow up already. i was a bit ahead of beth on the other side of the grand canyon... there's a small little- i guess i would describe it as a super mini double. i usually lift my front wheel and my rear wheel just dips in the jump and my front wheel comes down the backside. i was going faster than i thought i was and when i hit this i think i hit the brakes (there's a slight turn as well) and started to wash out straight into a tree. my I9 wheel and the stupid tree hit head on. i think i bailed at perfect time to not get hurt but not so perfect as it seems i still drove the front wheel into the tree. get up, dust my self off. i knew something gave as it wasn't very harsh. i was hoping that it was my fork. but it wasn't. it was my wheel. as luck would have it this was the one night i didn't have my multi-tool in my back pocket. i always have it with me during a race, a 2 mile ride, a group ride. and i didn't have it. my stem was cocked a bit to the right and i couldn't get it moved over. we were pretty much at the furthest point of getting the heck out of there. i had a knocking up front. since i had discs, the wheel was rideable but i wasn't sure what the knocking was. i was 99% sure my headset was loose but i wasn't certain. so it was a lame ride back.
my back has been super irritated so riding with the stem crooked seemed to irritate my right lower back by my hip area.
i was trying not to be super bummed. i mean i just played chicken with a tree and lost and worse case scenario is i have to send my wheel back to i9 for a new rim.
i am in no way complaining about i9. just bad luck and bad riding.
john said i could borrow his easton wheels if i needed to, so the eriksen will ride on- just not as orange.

taco'ed?

not quite. but close. my I9 is in the er hopefully being repaired but right now hope's all i have. it's a pretty bad hop.
damn tree.

ride?

i haven't ridden since sunday. i didn't bring my bike to work today as i ran out of time. evenings are hectic with getting home when i do, homework, dinner, baths and getting kids into bed. then it's clean up dinner, kids clothes ready for tomorrow, etc. i didn't have time to get my clothes and bike together as i was exhausted. bummer. other nights i just don't go to bed until well after i should. i'm hoping to make it home in time to get out even if it's only for a short while. i'd even ride my road bike.
in more exciting news the new stuff from twin six is up. i'm excited. just in time for my need to always buy clothes this time of year.

my back

ouch. i have one of those velcro disposable heat things on it today. hopefully this will loosen it up a bit. not that i enjoy touching my toes but i miss being able to do it. i hate hurting anything, but the back is the worst! i have no idea what i did. age?
friday and saturday were pretty mellow with john being gone. the kids and i went to the park on saturday and then went to the patio for dinner. casey has been talking about eating there for awhile now. i had ridden with brad out at palos earlier. it was cold! jersey, arm warmers, knickers and a vest. i never wanted to strip any of it off.
sunday i headed out to the mesa with gina. it was a fun ride. chatted and rode. i think i kicked up every stick out on the trail. the little albert's are super aggressive and wanted to grab everything. i have my next tires picked out but availablity is sucky at best, at least for the 26".
i am half way through a whole bag of swedish fish right now. i vote that these little red gems are pretty much the best candy ever.

see eff tee eff

cheq the 40 results.
effin' cool.

aunt n uncle again

julie (john's sis) n doug had a baby girl this afternoon. no name yet. i can't wait to know what her name is and see pics.
they were convinced they were having a boy so it makes it even a little bit more of a surprise.
sucks they are in california.

nighttime stealing my daylight

i met beth on kean around 6pm or so. we started riding with lights attached out on the canal trail. fumbled our way around a bit but found our way. one detour out to lagrange set our bearings straight and we continued on for a mellow evening into dark ride. we chatted, debated on where we were. went the wrong way a couple times. it was fun. i know palos pretty well but there are still some areas where i get confused. these are the grey areas.
we made our way to pretty little trail up burrito hill. we ran into a couple of guys at the entrance of out n back that scared the crap out of us. we scared the crap out of them too. we must have all thought "busted" at the same time. said hey for a minute or so, turned our lights on and headed down gravity cavity to the canal to head on back to kean.
we were stuck in the fisherman's lot before the canal trail for a bit as the tree cop was hanging out in the parking lot. all we could do was pee and hope he left soon. it wasn't long and we were on our way. reminiscing about the time we were on this huge group ride out at swallow cliff riding all the illegal singletrack and practically running into the forest preserve cops. we all ran into each other to stop before we exited the trail. stan, beth and a few others took off as john, tony, matt, myself and a couple others waited it out. we ended up turning around and just rode the same way we came and laughed about those "other guys" freaking out.
we made it back to kean and stan and the others hadn't made it back yet. a few minutes later we heard them all yelling at each other coming out of the trails itching like mad. they rode through everything and anything to escape the tree cops. i don't think i'll ever forget that. stan always makes things interesting.
anyway, we continued on the canal trail... when you first get on by the fisherman's lot there's an opening off to the left that has a huge view of the slough. it was a beautiful time of night to just happen to look across. i wish i had the camera and talent to capture that moment.
a bunch of chit chat, sticker bushes and downed logs later we made it back to our cars promising ourselves we'd do this every week until the weather made it impossible. i hope i keep that promise.

nothing to see here

zoe has not been the happy sleeper for i would say the past week. 7:30 we put her in her crib and she falls asleep. sometimes she'll cry or whine for a few but always falls asleep within 10 minutes. not so the past week. 7:30 has become hell.
i put her down and she stands in her crib and cries and cries and cries. last night she went down at about 7:30 only to wake up at 9 or so and would not go back to sleep. growth spurt? teeth? i dunno. i'm tired and frustrated though.
it was cold waking up this morning. i walked outside to leave and had to go back in for a jacket.
my back still is achy from sunday. it's been on the edge of achy for awhile now. i think it's my stem. i may bring it up a spacer. i've always known i need a longer stem but it was so fun with the 90. however when it comes to racing and pushing hard i feel the need to be stetched out a bit more. i almost got stuck in my position as i tried to get off the bike after sunday.
john leaves for the fat tire fest this weekend friday morning. i'm sort of jealous but not really. moreso just bummed i'll be without him for the whole weekend.

meltdown

i don't think there could have been a more perfect day to race than yesterday.
low 70s and the sun out in full force. in the trees it was nice and cool. out in the sun it was warm, but felt good.
i wanted to get to the race pretty early. i wanted to hang out for awhile before having to get ready to race. owning an xbox 360 and having 3 kids doesn't really allow this.

my start was typical of any other start. i try not to blow myself up as it takes me a real long time to recover. instead of having us go straight up the grass hill we rode across the bottom of it, straight up around a bush-tree thing, back down and back up on the singletrack in the middle of the hill. ugghhh. brutal. i was stil breathing hard as we rode around the parking lot ready to drop into gravity cavity.
i don't think i've ever ridden gravity cavity as fast as i did on that first lap... ever.
i could see mitch just up ahead as i came off of one day trail. he was climbing up ho chi minh. i didn't see him again until turf 1. as i was coming down the second ravine i saw the yellow things which i thought were leaves. they hit me pretty hard. for a second i was like wow the wind is blowing really hard here for those leaves to be hitting me that hard... but then i realized after i heard everyone yelling that they were bees (really they were wasps). climbing out the second ravine was just as brutal as i remembered it... but even more so in a race. there's just something about racing that makes things hurt just a bit more.
up to psychopath, down psychopath to turf 1. we were flying. there was a bit of a back up in turf. this is where i caught on to mitch. the majority of turf is really difficult to pass on especially with a train of people.
the train broke up at the exit of turf onto the kinda paved road. where mitch disappeared. climb climb climb. down to stairsteps... wait a minute no stairsteps- reroute. up to the gravel and down to badass hill. this is some of the most technical multi-use path i've ever ridden really. back up to green grassy and headed out for another lap. nothing that eventful really. it was just fun. ran into the wasps again, but luckily never stung. traded places with some guys a few times. it was nice racing with people. it's very rare that i'm not by myself. the grass hill was a bitch. i was totally up for another lap though! next year provided my mom is up for taking the kids again.



i even had a fan club after the race. i'm guessing these guys have never ridden with a girl who mountain bikes? i had to break their hearts and tell them i was married with kids. fran asked if they wanted my autograph. it was kind of embarrassing for me really.



watching the expert race was very exciting actually. there were a couple places to go see them without getting on the race course. seeing ben come through with jeremey on his wheel in the first lap was pretty exciting. i think i knew everyone in the top 10! it was cool being able to yell everyone's name as they sped by.
ben was leading at the start of lap 2. kevin was leading at the start of lap 3. and then jeremey finished it off to come in for the win. mike, chris, frank, john, mark, jerry and adam came in shortly after. most excellent racing.
total bummer that half the women's expert field was taken out by the wasps. kaitlynn had them stuck in her jersey and helmet. poor holly was stung on the lip and forehead. upon running into her i didn't have to ask what happened. her lip was enormous. and then lori with her flat and bent rim (she really needs to learn how to ride smoother).

CAMBr put on an excellent event. even more amazing was it was their first time putting on a race. the weather put it over the top. props to CAMBr, all the volunteers and sponsors who made the race what it was- AWESOME! everyone is already talking about next year.

***pics stolen from mg, ben and the cambr page

take three

i had an rx filled on a pair of frames from oakley the other day.
i have another pair of oakley frames here from years ago that were actually filled by oakley.
i picked up the new ones today and they aren't as crisp as the old ones.
i wonder if it's because it's not actually an oakley lens (they have killer lenses) or if my rx is wrong?

no kent

katie just emailed me... she had some health issues that are delaying their trip.
they won't be able to come down on sunday to palos. she's not even sure she'll be able to race at all.
all you folks up at sunburst be sure to say hi to them as they think they'll make it to kewaskum, considering it's practically his mom's backyard. i'm sure they'll be hard to miss- 3 people on eriksen's would stick out like a sore thumb to me anyway.

bomb the mosquitos

wednesday night is my typical night to ride. my night to not worry about what the kids are having for dinner.
i busted out of work a little earlier than usual with feltz. we headed to palos as he wanted to pre-ride the course. then i figured we'd head out to stonehenge and depending on time hit cemetary hill or old country lane. i was figuring cemetary hill as it's shorter but one can hope.
sitting in the E we were coming up on damon on 55 and the skies let loose with the biggest water drops i've seen in quite some time. it was very strange. the skies were filled with the scary grey clouds with the big white puffy ones. after the big rain drops the skies stopped and it just appeared grey. i didn't even realize there was rain in the forecast.
we were determined to ride regardless. my thoughts were it didn't rain long enough to get through the trees.
we got to the new staging area where it was a bit wet. adam and i got dressed and headed out for a loop of the course.
the staging area singletrack was dry. sweet. headed up towards gravity cavity after tightening my air cartridge on my seatpost.
i'm beginning to think that i dislike my jones xr tires on my 26". i love them on my 29er. i always feel like my front tire is going to wash. i need to find a new high volume xc tire. anyway one day trail was a bit damp but nothing crazy.
then we hit three ravines. talk about slick. i had just put 30#s of pressure (i usually run 26 or so) so my tires were sliding off roots and weren't instilling the best of confidence. 3 ravines is so packed down that the rain wasn't absorbed into the trail. it was just sitting on top making even the slightest off cambr section slick as snot. i was starting to get frustrated. my tires (and skill) weren't allowing me to even climb out of the first and third ravines. that's how bad it was. i ended up stopping and letting some air out my tires (should've down that 2 ravines sooner) and i got a bit more confidence. but semi slicks wouldn't be my tire of choice if this is what conditions would be like for race day.
while riding 3 ravines we ran into mike kelsall. i heard him yell trail as he was floating through the ravine. we ended up riding and chatting with him for the remainer of the ride.
having stopped a couple times it became apparent that the mosquitos were out in full force. i was in shock at how bad they were. buzzing in your ear. it was super annoying. luckily we didn't have to stop much.
we headed up towards psychopath. the beginning flatter section was pretty wet. mike said earlier it was like a river, the water was flowing down it so fast. you could tell it was already starting to dry, though still far from dry.
our bikes and bodies were a mess by this point. it wasn't really muddy just real splashy.
turf 1 turned out to be decent only slick in spots. this one part of the trails sweeps right and i just kind of two wheel drifted not in a good way to the trees. no harm. just started pedaling agan. we climbed up the road to stairsteps to bad ass hill. i think i climbed bad ass hill in record time for me. it actually seemed kinda short.
out in the parking lot we decided to ride up green grassy and head out towards stone henge. back down the staging area singletrack and slid out a bit where i crashed last wednesday. whoa.
i led adam and mike all the way out past 95th and 104th. i let mike go through ahead of me to a log crossing. i'm not afraid of log crossings at all, but this one sometimes has the build up branches out of place. too many people have gone down pretty hard there. mike took it to the right which is actually more of a jump instead of a ride over and slowly endoed. he was okay. he took the lead after that.
we started heading towards cemetary hill. i hadn't been this way in a long time. i started to remember bits and pieces of it as we continued on. we came across these kids on the trail. it was sort of weird, their body language, etc. 3 of the kids turned away to not look at us as we rode by. strange. as we came to the exit of the trail there was a set of bones- like bigger bones- set up with bits n pieces of car tail lights? wtf? kids.
next up was cemetary hill. it's a pretty steep rutted out illegal hill. i started up it and started laughing for some reason and lost all momentum. had to stop and walk. big mistake. the mosquitos found me. HOLY CRAP! they were dive bombing me, attacking from all points. i must have had 50 on me at one point with what seemed like hundreds more waiting to land. they were on my ears, in my ears, on my face, arms, legs, etc. it was madness! i couldn't get up the trail fast enough. i wanted to scream. i finally made it up and i couldn't get away fast enough. i'm pretty sure i was redlined after climbing that hill and trying to get the eff out.
back to the parking lot. i lost my air cartridge somewhere along the way. bummer.
headed on home. it was a good ride.

crap

i forgot a sport bra.

blah blah blah

work was sucky today. i'm still backed up from my vacation. not only that, i'm filling in for efrain who is in taiwan. so now i have trek oe on my ass.
no ride today. it was john's night and he didn't take advantage. my night tomorrow. i need to get my shit in order now (don't forget your gloves).
hopefully there will be people out there to ride with. it's getting darker earlier which is always a bummer. which reminds me, i need to pack my light.
i've really got nothing.
zoe has a horrible diaper rash, casey didn't win any drama queen awards tonight, john's shoulder is feeling better and my contacts suck lately. that's about it going on in the gatto's house.
looks like kent from kent eriksen cycles will be down for the palos race this weekend with his wife katie lindquist (a 24 solo world champion) and friend andy. pretty cool. i'll get to meet them in person. when you get a custom frame done by a small builder it's almost like they become a sort of friend. for those of you who don't know who kent is he is the founder of moots and the maker of my killer ti mtb frame. he's in the mountain bike hall of fame. they'll be in wisconsin visiting his family (right by kewaskum incidentily), they are choosing to drive down to palos instead. then they'll head out up to what seems like canada for the cheq fat tire fest.
til tomorrow.

labor day weekend

friday night i did a night ride with beth. it was nice to be out especially when i couldn't hit the group ride on saturday. i had a lot of errands to do anyway (on saturday) that i would have kicked myself later for not doing because i would have blown them off to ride.
saturday night my cousin lisa had a killer labor day weekend party. dj and everything. she has the perfect yard for that sort of thing. it'll be more fun for us when zoe is older. but no rush.
sunday late morning i headed out to palos to do a loop. i didn't have time for anything else and i needed to do something! i lost my smith sliders out there somewhere so i'm kinda bummed. i'd like to get a pair of glasses before this weekend.
sunday night was marie's wedding. marie and i grew up together. we lived directly across the street from each other for over 13 years. we don't hang out or talk much anymore, our interests aren't very close at all, but we will always be great friends. i'm very happy for her to finally have found her man.
i really don't like getting dressed up. i don't mind the dress so much as the shoes. i hate dress shoes. there aren't really any dress shoes that i think are cute really, nor any that i find comfortable. they just aren't me. looking around at the majority of the chicks at the wedding receptions sunday night- why do we even bother? more than half of the chicks were running around shoeless!
we didn't get home too late so that was cool.
the wedding was okay. i was sort of bummed my sister couldn't make it. reese sunday exhibited signs of an asthma attack. she's allergic to cats and lisa had cats. steph and eric decided to take her to urgent care because they were getting a little nervous. they figured she'd be given a nebulizer treatment and be on their way. not so. apparently reese has full blown pneumonia in both lungs! poor kid. she's still in the hospital but is crazed with energy ready to get out. i'm confident she'll be released tomorrow.
monday we had a group ride planned at palos. a bunch of peeps from wisconsin headed down to pre-ride the course and enjoy many of the other trails palos has to offer. we had a good group- jeremey, jerry, lori, regina, her husband bill, bob, john, brad, chris, paul and myself. there was one other dude who tagged along but i don't know who he was. we rode a hair under 20 miles in about 2 and half hours. not bad for 14 people and stopping many times to make sure we were all good (one being a long stop where john fixed his hanger and everyone else peed and got food). i had a really good time (although i really missed my smiths (and gloves), it was dusty out there!). i hope everyone else did as well. i wanted to ride longer and to my surprise i still felt like i had a ton of life in me. i really wanted john to say let's go out for some more, but in reality i was sort of relieved he was done. a little guilt was starting to set in and i wanted to get the kids a bit before on time for a change. amazing that it was my first big group ride since october of 2005.
with all the mountainbike rides going on and pre-riding happening there were a few bumps n bruises. palos is two way traffic. i've never had a problem out there. but with the race going in the opposite direction of how most people ride out there, there was bound to be some trouble. nothing serious thankfully but john had a pretty good one. on saturday while out pre-riding the course he happened upon 2 other riders all going pretty fast. john and another rider hit head on riding one day trail. john was ejected and landed underneath the second rider's chainring. the picture doesn't do it justice really.



back to work tomorrow. i usually don't care but i have so much work backed up that i'm sort of dreading it. hopefully i'll be able to get some mtb time in. the mesa needs some recon. i'd like to get in there and clean it up a bit.

after

so my knee and hip are still a bit sore. my left arm is a little stiff but my right wrist is the worst! i have full range of motion, it doesn't hurt to the touch but it just hurts when i move it, but not enough to make me say ouch. its a strange uncomfortable feeling. it feels like it wants to pop or crack.
i made it to the eye docter. it was everything i expected. stop running. get over here. no, you can't play hide and seek and definitely not tag. at least nothing was broken. a pair of eye glasses made it to the floor and the magazines "fell" off the desk, but all in all not so bad. 5-7 business days and i can take my contact out at other times besides bed time. i kind of miss that.
i've worked at SRAM for almost 8 years now. there have been a few things while i've been here that have been truly exciting for me on a personal level. the X.0 rear derailleur was one thing. getting to ride prototypes etc. was way cool. seeing it from start to finish was awesome. the derailleur is just bad ass. i'm not sure if being in the industry numbs you to stuff or what. perhaps it's age, etc. there have been a number of products that we have done that have had the industry in a flutter... the mission control forks- lyrik and totem- but really i have no need or desire to ride these, the road group (don't get me wrong, i am super excited about it, but i'm not into road stuff like i am into mtb stuff, that could change) and code. i'm talking about what speaks to me. until right now that is- there are two things that have me super excited.
the new sid and the 1090 cassette. i have not seen or held a new sid yet, but i can't wait to get one! i'm not really a weight weenie but the reba world cup was heavier than a sid. i never had any issue with the sid as i'm 130lbs and racing and riding here in the midwest, so never felt i had to have a reba. but this new fork with the ti spring tube and hollow legs have me geeking out on bike parts again. the new 1090 cassette is just, well, fucking cool. i've held this in my hand. it's absolutely amazing.
tonight i need to go shopping (dress) and hopefully eat some good food.
group rides saturday and monday. sunday is the wedding.
the forecast looks to be fantastic so get your asses outside this weekend.

funky

my funk is dissipating. i showered last night and time takes care of the mental stuff. i'm trying to get my doc to prescribe this in case i ever feel that way again.
i rode last night (all by myself). usually not a big deal but wednesday nights are the nights i enjoy riding with people.
i ended up riding the palos meltdown course. i was slow. my tires kind of sucked for the "a bit more than tacky" sections of the trail. but that's not why i was slow. i just was working things out in my head. which is kind of a disaster on a mtb ride.
i slammed my foot into a rock. ouch. i should've just rode my singlespeed as i forgot to shift gears the whole time any way. i was either in way too easy of a gear or way too hard. the way too hard ended making my aching back ache even more.
it was a beautiful evening actually to be in the woods. it wasn't too hot at all.
i saw two people the whole time i was out there. they were coming down stair steps. bad ass hill is super technical right now. the rocks are really loose as well as there being a nice water rut down the middle. there were a few trees down. more than i would have expected. there was actually a tree down on every trail.
i started to head back to the car a bit before 7. i was still on the trail back to the parking lot but my mind wasn't. i don't know what happened. all i remember is seeing the spray painted root and then sitting on the ground. my guess is i leaned the bike over a bit too far and my "not so great in the more than tacky" tires must have broke free. my handlebar spun completely around cutting the top tube. i couldn't get it back spun around. i had to undo the clamp on the brake lever to spin it back. my bar had turned up as well. that kinda sucked. luckily i was done. my knee and hip are pretty sore today. my knee being pretty bruised. it took the majority of the impact. i had like an inch of mud caked there with some blood. i had leaves and dirt in my teeth. and something burned my wrist. i haven't had my bell and body rung like that all year. it was like a shock. luckily nothing to keep me off the bike. just a reminder that you're never off the trail until you clip out and get off your bike.
today i would like to get my rx filled for my glasses. i only have a pair of riding rx glasses and would like some just regular glasses. i was hoping to go right now, but it's zoe's nap time. when she wakes up it'll be time to pick up casey and josh from school. and then i'm not so sure i want to bring a couple of 5 year olds with me. but in reality i'll just suck it up and be one of those moms yelling the whole time i'm out to tell them to get back here or stop running. it's also casey's open house tonight. that should be neat. i'm sure she'll be excited to show us around her school.
in exciting news we got a big ass box from zappos yesterday. casey has grown out of all her shoes so i got her a few pairs. she's in love with her camo with pink skull circa shoes and her vans. i thought she was going to sleep with her circas. she's not as excited about her vans all star type shoes. while i was at it i also ordered john and myself some chucks. believe it or not i haven't bought a pair of shoes for myself in awhile. i love shoes.

funk

i'm in one. mentally and physically.

CAMBr Palos Meltdown

Palos Meltdown is September 9th!
you have to pre-register by Aug 31.
if you don't pre-register you will have to register off-site the day of. (can't do any business transactions on forest preserve property) which really is a pain in the ass.

yawn

went to marios for dinner last night instead of a bike ride. i haven't been there in awhile and it was sooo good.
today i need to go dress shopping as i have a wedding sunday. nothing like last minute. i need to get john some stuff too.
pre-ride palos this weekend and then hit the other trails out there provided they aren't under water still. i'm sure there are some nasty spots, but i'm hoping for the most part they'll be dried out.
still catching up at work from being out all last week. luckily i had someone filling in for me while i was out as i'd be screwed this week.
i need to get my helmet set up with my light so i'm ready to go when i need it (possibly tomorrow).

the weekend

friday i ended up on the road (duh) as i think the singletrack here may still be under water. i haven't checked lately. i took the walt out. 32:19 on flat pavement with your seat too low for 13 miles kinda sucks. but i was glad to be out.
saturday was zoe's second first birthday. this time with my family. we shared the day with my cousin erin and my niece audrey. great food, good people and fun times.
there was tons of chicken, beef, pasta and beans to enjoy all day long. not to mention like 5 cakes! i wish i was there right now.
sunday came and we decided to hit the kickapoo race right outside of danville, il.
i used to ride down there years ago (like 8). i forgot how cool the trails were (even cooler now) and how much singletrack there was (even more now). it was a 10.3 mile loop of essentially all singletrack. it was all singletrack except maybe a 1/4 mile of double track and about 1/2 mile of open field singletrack. the rest was up and down and back and forth in the trees. 3 killer climbs, some awesome decents, tons of jumps, roots, logs, etc. my race was 20 miles. the trails were in perfect condition!
you couldn't have asked for a better day to be out on the trails.


i took 1st overall, john took 7th. Ben was there- he took 3rd (he has a great write up of the race). nice job ben.
i remember being nervous at this race. i don't even know why. i knew what to expect. we mass started with all the men. i remembered surprise hill (cruising on the singletrack in the field, sharp ass right turn into a steep short hill) and knew i'd be walking. no biggee. i started as second woman and stuck on her wheel for the first few miles thinking this was a good pace. then it dawned on me, this is singletrack- GO. i passed as the trail widened a bit and just pedaled. we came to this creek crossing and then it went up with rocks and roots strewn in just to make it hard (it was sweet). i know if i wore a heartrate monitor it would have been over my max i'm sure. i was breathing mouth open and super loud. i don't think i closed my mouth and quieted for another 3 or 4 miles. it took me a long time to recover from the effort. i was hurting but knew i'd recover and just be able to go faster. i didn't know where the other ladies were and i was determined to get a 1st here (per jeremey). for the rest of the race i traded spots with a few guys. every time i heard someone i was convinced it was another woman so i'd pick it up. i didn't have a rear brake for the entire race. i don't know what the deal was. i'm guessing some of the chain stuff somehow got onto the rotor. i was hoping it would burn off but it never did. it didn't really matter, in fact it probably helped me as sometimes i'll hit the rear brake to scrub speed when i really don't need to- it's like a safety thing (habit) i guess. the only time it got me was on this steep downhill section that went sharp left after a root drop off. i had no idea it was coming. i went to use the rear brake to skid the turn and it wasn't there so i had to lay it down for fear of going off the edge. no harm really just a nice scab today. next lap i was fully prepared for it. i finished in 2 hours and 7 minutes. it was over 20.5 miles. i still suck at eating on the bike. so sucky that i might as well just stop and pull over to eat. i'm ordering a gu bottle or whatever today. it was impossible to drink water on that course! it just never stopped. i didn't even get to use my bar ends. that's how much tecnical singletrack there was.
john came in after his 30 or so miles and said he just didn't have it today but had fun regardless. he was ready to throw down with a guy who said "fucking singlespeeders" when he got bounced off of a steep short hill until he looked over and saw the dude was on a singlespeed. good fun.

i will say it was nice to see the way our bikes looked at the end of a race for a change.


the drive home was uneventful. i mean it was a nice change of pace from driving in and out of wisconsin. but 57 is a very boring drive to say the least.


once we got home we cleaned out both trucks, cut down a tree and mowed the lawn- not to mention laundry, unloading etc. we never sat down (except for driving) all day. i think we both passed out about 9pm.

what a drag

i don't feel like doing anything. i haven't had a vacation in over 3 years and i pick this week to take it. i'm still in awe of the amount of rain that's dropped. i'm in denial and keep thinking that if it doesn't rain today (yeah right) palos might be dry by sunday (no effing way).
zoe's second first birthday is saturday for my side of the family. hopefully it's at least dry for that. we are celebrating with my cousin erin and my niece audrey so we weren't competing for weekends and my family wouldn't be on birthday overload in august.

more

this is different radar from my last post. these are the scary storms. where your trees are touching the ground and your bushes are tapping the windows. you'd swear the lightning and thunder were in your backyard and sometimes in the house with you.

i like listening and watching. but as a home owner there is a fear of something going wrong. luckily the tree missed the shed.

here it comes again

(insert your own expletive here)



tornado warning sirens. downed tree in the backyard.



crazy. it went from 92 to like 67 degrees in less than 10 minutes. i was just emailing jeremey, what a shitty week to take vacation. who would have ever thought?

dressed up alligators

so i took the mud bike out. i didn't know how bad the trails would be so i hit the paved path for about 12 miles and then turned into the mesa. the usual entrance mud. i've seen it muddier. wow. way better in here than i ever would have imagined.
got to the lake bypass and huh? no mud. YES. rode down to racoon alley. okay, muddy. but i would expect this, i mean it's essentially a creek bed. the entrance climb to the mesa off of raccoon alley was pretty slick. it's root filled and kid of steep. i ended up walking it. i was far from being discouraged. not even close. rode over his bridge no problem.



and came across this:



the chainsaws will have to come out for this bad boy.

i was amazed at the conditions of the trails. the trails were fine. the roots, rocks and logs were slick as all get out.

i did a log slide on this one and ended up crotching the toptube.



i didn't do one of the bridges. it comes off of a little downhill with a funky turn and has rocks in front of it. i was weary. and rightly so. i put my front tire on it to roll up to get to the other side and it slid out. the off cambr section after that bridge was pretty slick. it has a lot of little finger roots too so i walked it. but really i never had to walk again until this rooty climb.
there were only two super wet spots. by 420 and the usual water runoff spot on the outer leg. but that's muddy even when it's dusty.



it's steeper than it looks. i rode down it fine, but climbing out, it was super slick.

my bike and me. yep- that's it. some mud ride. i would have killed for this look after this past saturday.

surprise

storms this morning... storms this afternoon.... storms tonight and tomorrow and friday. next week when i go back to work looks nice. my allergies are in full force. must be mold. i feel like poo. can't breathe very well. going upstairs is a chore. hopefully i feel better as the day goes on.

mud bike

i finished it. tomorrow it gets tested. i'll post pics if i remember to bring my camera.
it's been 9 hours since it rained last. i think we need 2 days which i don't think we are gonna get.

@#%* rain

i can't believe it's still raining!!!

from rusty

a big thank you to rusty for giving us WORS racers tons to do on mondays.

em you dee

it's funny, i was just reading a bunch of elite peeps blogs and they talk about how great the race was and i believe them. but i'm sure the comp, sport and citizen racers have a whole different outlook and it has nothing to do with experience.
there was never any doubt in my mind as to whether or not i would race. i was going to race. when it started raining i was almost a bit stoked as the course was so dry it needed some moisture badly. my weakness is loose dirt turns and there were plenty of them.
i was 2nd place until we came out into the open road. my lack of warming up really reared it's ugly head as i felt like i was going backwards. i guess sometimes i forget the importance of warming up. i was cursing myself for not (again).
words can't describe how thick and slick the singletrack was. the trail was just begging for a tire tread to grab hold. a tread i didn't have because i was so indecisive about changing my tires (duh). by the time i thought to change them it was too late and i just had to deal. crossing the field to get to the other side i took a nice fall down one of the drops. i was passing some dude and the trail threw him my way sending me off down the short steep area where there wasn't really a trail. as if i weren't muddy enough.



i think i ran most of the second lap. too muddy, bike was caked, lines of riders, it was craziness, way worse than alterra. i never once thought i wouldn't finish, never even wanted to quit. but thought about how dumb it was that we were out there. thinking about how trashed my bike was. i mean i had weeds wrapped around my hubs, wrapped in my rotors. sticks in my pulleys, some small animal's or bird's home between my bottom bracket and seattube. you couldn't even see my large and small chainring, they looked like discs. i couldn't believe the noises my bike was making. (but it was still all cool and stuff, the orange spokes were still all shiny.)

it was miserable and fun. i mean i was still riding my bike even though it was just a little bit.




i just wished there was a bit more riding and a bit less running. and i'm sure i'll forget (again) to pack my toe spikes for my next WORS race.

i feel bad about all the time and effort put into this course and weekend to have the rain kill it's potential.

i ended up 7th overall and 3rd age.

pics stolen from mg.

zoe's first party

zoe's first birthday party of two happened tonight. she absolutely hated the cake. she was switched at birth. there is no way a kid of mine can't like cake!
packing for tomorrow so we'll be late and can't preride. hope to see a bunch of you on saturday.

ha HA!

no rain. we didn't get hit all day. it didn't hit til after we rode a fantastic loop out at palos. it was nice killin' trails on the walt again. it had been a long time since we've paired up. thanks to beth, tony and ed for making the ride all the more fun.
taking off my helmet back at the parking lot the thunder rolled in. perfect. got home, no rain. sweet.

dreary

ick. what a blah day. the radar looks super ugly and of course not looking good for a ride tonight. maybe waterfall glen? i've got my mind set on doing something.

more rain

wtf? i can't believe the amount of rain we've been getting. i so remember in just recent years past that august was the month of brown grass (straw really) and all kinds of watering bans. as pretty as the grass is i'd rather be riding off road.

monday

work sucked. the drive was suckier. the weather was nice for a change. no offroad tonight, but at least i rode. i'm trying to find whatever it is that's making the irritating noise on my bike. still no clue. it's starting to tick me off.
tomorrow ride? doubt it. it's john's night. wednesday... palos 6pm.

sunday sunday sunday

sunday started off with fresh hot cinammon rolls out of the oven and some freshly brewed coffee. read the sale papers to see if there was anything we had to have. and then tried to get a sitter so john and i could go for a bike ride together. we've rode our bikes together i think once or twice this year. i know, boo hoo, but i miss it. it ended up working out but we weren't able to get out until 1pm and it was a hot one yesterday. although, i will say that with it being in the 90s for so long, it doesn't seem as bad as it did a couple weeks ago. i think you just get used to it.
we met tp and beth at the staging area and headed out for a pretty mellow mtb ride... up the staging area singletrack to pipeline to psychopath to turf one up the road to 3 ravines up ho chi minh back to pipeline to the out n back. we had to call it a day as john's parents needed us back so they could go out to dinner.
the trails were a little muddy from the surprise rain the night before. by the end of the ride you could tell that everything wash drying up. even the singletrack back down to the staging area appeared to be dusty in spots. next time i'm out at palos we'll preride the race course. it'll be interesting and boring at the same time. there are so many cool trails it'll miss not to mention 3 ravines is so awesome downhill.




once home we headed over to my aunt's for my gram's birthday dinner and a nice swim. i think casey and zoe would both live in the pool if they could.

responsible

saturday turned into a day of responsibility. choosing to race every other weekend pretty much means you neglect your home responsibilities. this weekend instead of driving up to wisconsin to ride kettle we decided to get caught up on some much needed yard work and house cleaning. since we've neglected it for so long there was plenty to do.


my plan was to fit a ride in at some point but with all the work to be done and it being john's mom and my gram's birthday- i literally just ran out of time. i tried to get a night ride going, but that wasn't working either. i'm too chicken to go by myself. there are sections of the forest preserves here that scare the crap out of me.
today the only objective is to ride. it rained like crazy last night so i'm hoping off road is doable.

for sale

my lemond is for sale again. if anyone is interested let me know.
49cm steel, orange and badass...



different saddle (that one is on my mtb) it has a ti vitesse now.
different stem- itm (if you want the 80mm carbon it's yours- it was too short for me)
different post- carbon truvativ... but you can have your choice of use alien or bontrager.
$800

sucky road ride

i just got back from a road ride. i didn't ride the moots as the cockpit parts aren't in yet to make it rideable. so the lemond got the call. i quickly remembered why i haven't been riding this... when the moots came in i took the saddle off of there to put on the new bike and put the hated vitesse on their with a setback post. ughhh!!! i came back only 12 miles later with the start of a saddle sore. i coulndn't bare to ride any longer. i'm sort of bummed as i have no motivation to do anything else now... wash bikes or take the tape off the moots to get a head start or laundry or get the bmx bike out of the element.

ho hum

tonight is usually my ride night out at palos. with all the rain we've been having it's for sure a no go. even waterfall glen i'm sure is under water by the tracks.
kind of depressing. looks like a road ride tonight. possibly kettle this weekend? but that could be under water too.
tonight after my ride i'd like to get my bike cleaned from this weekend. no, it's not still caked in mud, we did rinse them. but it needs a real cleaning now.
fingers crossed i don't need new cables and housing.
i'm off the week of the 20th. hopefully the weather cooperates as i think jeremey wants to bring the juniors down to ride palos and the mesa. should be fun.

happy birthday zoe

it's zoe's first bday today.

lotsa rain in the past few hours. off road riding looks to be a distant plan.
maybe that'll motivate me to change my bar on my road bike so i can actually ride it.

tagged

by regina. I’m guessing this means I have to answer these questions?

jobs I've held:
through high school worked in the car business as a cashier
richard’s bicyle shop through my short college stint (it's changed so much since i've been there)
SRAM Corporation from then til now

movies I can watch over and over again:
goonies, napoleon dynamite, harry potter, breaking away and many more.

guilty pleasures:
ooh lots… some music, cup cakes, portillos chocolate cake, fountain drinks with lots of ice, strawberries and whipped cream,
anything harry potter

places I have lived:
blue island IL
my bike
oak forest IL

shows I enjoy:
house
fuel tv
discovery channel and history channel stuff
i don’t watch too much.

places I have been on vacation:
boundary waters MN
does racing in WI and MI count?
monterey and san fran CA
kauai HI
mt snow VT
seattle WA
i’ve been to other places for work.

fave foods:
mexican- love tacos
corn on the cob
pizza
spicy jambalaya

websites i visit daily:
every blog that’s linked on my page and then bloggers linked off their pages
various news web pages
weather
cyclingnews and velonews

awards i've won:
spelling bee district champ in 8th grade
state hoop shoot champ in 5th grade
perfect attendance in school every year except when I had the chicken pox
many bike medals and trophies

nicknames:
spicy, rae, rae rae, mom

i won't tag anybody as i'll be bummed they didn't play.

franklin

ha ha. what a mudfest! what a blast! popped it in the big ring not realizing the mud that was ahead after cresting the climb. forgot i was in that big ring and pushed through. passed like 5 gals. slip, slick, slide... down. bar end, grip and shifter sunk in the mud with my hand.
got up and was sliding off the handlebar. now i realize i'm on the big ring and can't shift down. hmmm.... my teeth... i'll figure it out. just keep going. finally made it to the gravel. i can see brittany just ahead. okay i'm not doing bad. now use your other hand to try and shift down. nope, too slick. glove off. that worked. phew. the singletrack was awesome. slick to make it interesting which is what i like. pass people get out to that moon climb thing and everyone passes me. it would have been nice if i warmed up. but to have time to warm up i need to leave my house in time to get there before 11:18. thanks to everyone that helped me get on the bike to make the start. my warm-up consisted of big ringing it to the bathroom and then downhilling to the start. i don't remember any details really after that moon climb. just passing people, trading places with people. the second lap was worse than the first and third. the mud just before the singletrack was obnoxious, but i'll remember this race for a long time because of it. i still need to work on the food thing... perhaps taping the gels to my stem or wrapping them on my bottle. i have a hard time reaching in my jersey as it's kind of short. on that third lap i really needed a gel. this guy's kid, meghan, and i traded places a couple times at the end, but she killed me on the final climb to the finish line with her smooth pedaling skills. i wish i had that much energy at the end... i saw amy walking and i think i was riding as slow as she was walking as she didn't seem to be getting any closer. the elites and comps i know were yelling at me to get her... i stood up to give it an extra go and sat right back down again. didn't matter. i was happy with my finish. 2nd age and 5th overall chick.
this was probably the first race in a long time i didn't have thoughts of quitting. which to me says i wasn't going hard enough...
thank to john and jeremey (he has pics from the race) for giving me water. how rad is it to have people give you water? i won't get used to it as i think next race i'll have to carry it in my pocket or something.
congrats to everyone today... john for taking 2nd age on his singlespeed, jesse for taking the overall, marko for following in for second and ronsta coming in 4th after his grueling win last weekend. it made for a fun watch of the elite race. congrats to dave and jerry for making mars the majority on the comp ss podium. congrats to the juniors nate and mitch for killing it as well.
as i was walking around the event today i thought about how it's cool having a blog. i've met so many people i wouldn't have otherwise. you know people's names to cheer them on and they know you.

*photos courtesty of mg and rusty

hilarious

casey just told me that she is very very hungry. that she has a worm in her belly that gets bigger and bigger and eats all her food. it gets bigger each time she eats. it makes her hungry all the time and that's why she needs to eat candy and snacks all the time because that's what kills it...

yes!

it's been a weird day. lots of weird errands. casey's last day of swim lessons. she can't wait for next year. dropped my gram off so she could get a perm. work, tried to clean, work, gave up on cleaning.
finally saw harry potter. it was pretty good actually. i won't geek out on it here... i'll just have to wait for my sister to get her lazy ass to see it.
tomorrow- work and i dunno. saturday- maybe go out to breakfast (hint hint) and i dunno. and sunday- franklin. i hope i finish.

bishop

very cool.

more of the same

back to work, trying to fit rides in... you know the drill.
i've been meaning to put barends on the eriksen but have kind of been too lazy.
i think i'm stalling because i don't know if i want to cut the grip or just slide everything in a bit.
moots went out last night... i really need a shorter reach bar. i have my eyes on a cheapie aluminum to check out and if it's all good i'll invest in a new stem for my rad bar i have sitting in the bike part closet.
franklin is this weekend. hopefully it won't be too much of a scorcher! start drinking now.
it's wednesday night so i'll be out at palos. it'll be nice to get out.
pasta bowl for lunch today. if you are ever in the city it's definitely a place to check out. the farfalle pollo is to die for!

my last post was a lie

we did end up hitting 24-9. we decided it was better than sitting at home.
it was strange not racing or having anybody to look out for. well, we had our kids and they kept us plenty busy but you know what i mean.
we were not prepared really... but we survived. we got rid of the rv last minute... so that left us really with nowhere to sleep or cook. we figured we'd figure it out when we got there. worse case we'd sleep in the suburban which wouldn't have been bad at all. thanks to jeremey for letting us borrow his kid tent and brent for giving us his 2-person. we didn't sleep saturday night so it didn't matter then, but it was nice to stick the kids and dog somewhere.


i did a ride with barb on saturday morning... she knew where all the easy to get to singletrack was and we rode that for most of the morning before the race started.
i hit up the course around dinner time to get a lap in. the course was pretty cool. i never felt like i was on the doubletrack for super long and the singletrack sections weren't far and few between. the highlight of my ride was on the only kinda long climb 3 riders passed me- nat ross, chris eatough and carlos smack dab between them. that was pretty cool. my only complaint was the flower trail! that poor trail. i looked forward to that course because of that trail... i remembered how it felt like you entered a different world when you popped in there. no more. very sad. i hope it recovers some day.
congrats to everybody who finished that race and especially those who came home with the stars and bars. how freakin' rad is that!

to end i leave you with a picture of what it looks like after you win the 24 hour duo:
























i think everybody snapped this pic.

roller coaster

okay, now it looks like no 24-9 for us.
ugghhh...

the plan

24-9 plans keep changing. hopefully they settle by like friday. so far it's for the better as far as plans, but not without any sucky things happening.

15point98

palos meltdown 9/9

do it. the course is actually pretty sweet. lots of singletrack and some decent climbing.
way better than a mowed ski hill.

potter

saturday i had the wedding shower. got home around 3:00 still no potter book. it better come. finally.
read read and read. done. i'm excited to have that spell off my back. i've been waiting for over 2 years to read that book.
i enjoyed them and am glad to not have to obsess about it anymore.
after finished the book i hit the mesa. it's been awhile since i'd been offroad... blue mounds i think? or did i have one palos ride in there? don't remember. anyway... stan sticks everywhere! still a blast though.
work tomorrow... tues and wed.... 24-9 is a maybe for me, maybe only because i'm still holding onto hope. bummer. my family is out of town and john's family has a wedding.
i'm bummed.
anyone wanna babysit a 5 year old and 11 month old?

into the weekend

thursday i went on a night-ish ride. busted out the light for the last 5 or so miles. i really need to stay out later to put the light to the test. get the battery drained etc. recharge.
work had a bunch of restructuring done people wise which in turn gave me a new manager and new desk. i spent the better part of my afternoon making the move.
tonight has been pretty uneventful. playing with kids, dinner, playing, put zoe to sleep, store, cookies and type this.
wedding shower tomorrow. boo. ride after hopefully. sunday zoe and i will be hanging out while john and casey go to a concert.

yikes

wed night... i usually hit palos for the 6pm group ride. john was sick so i came home to help with the rugrats. i know what it's like to be sick with two kids. i planned on going on a night ride but then this happened:













boo.

quick fourteen

i left at like 8:15pm. it felt good to even just get in a short ride. but now i fear i may not fall asleep.
my lupine light is most excellent.

chill

gone

it was a sad day for john yesterday. he sold his motorcycle to my uncle. if you know john you know how huge it is for him to part with something; especially something like that.

weekend review

i don't even remember friday. since i can't remember it, i'm going to assume nothing worth mentioning happened.
saturday john had tickets for chicagoland speedway. the oil guy at work gave him tix. he thought casey would get a kick out of it. he was right.


they were gone pretty much all day. i was left at home with this one:



what a terror she was. i had a long rough day. if she wasn't supposed to have it, she had it. which meant she usually ate it. i can't tell you how many times i took dog food out of her mouth, or paper, or shoes, or well you get the picture. she can open the toilet now (great). i tried to get some bike maintenance done but no way was she going to let me. she wanted my undivided attention and she got it. we had fun though.
last minute plans to do the l.a.t.e. ride i scrapped together some last minute babysitters (my cousins lauren and erin) so i could join the group. the lack of being able to do any bike maintenance had me sulking because i had to ride the eriksen. oh well. the surly with the basket would have been my first choice.




in past years the late ride has been a blast. this year, not so much. i didn't want to go but knew i'd regret it on sunday. they changed the course from the past years. we didn't go down lincoln where all the bars are. that was usually the most fun. we were also way out in front... no time to people watch, etc. but you almost have to make a choice, stay in the middle of the ride and get home at 6 am or go out front and be home at a decent hour. anyway, it wasn't my favorite ride but john and bryan at least made it somewhat entertaining on the extra cycle.
sunday we missed another wors race. family obligations. wors isn't working out this year it seems with our schedule. this time it was uncle chuck's 80th birthday party. it was a surprise at an italian restaurant just down the street from us, so that was cool. it turned out to be a real nice time.




i didn't get the riding in i had hoped for. i'm crossing my fingers the rain holds off until well after i get home so i can hit the path at least. next weekend is a baby shower on saturday (missing the wems race) and maybe pamba on sunday.

guilty pleasures

forever is finally here. the last harry potter book will be at my door next saturday. i hope to be finished with it on sunday so nobody can spoil anything, i prefer being the spoiler... i'm pretty excited. i also told john he needs to take me on a date to see order of the phoenix.

overdue

erikson ti mtb frame (26)- 2.9 lbs. rockshox sid world cup with retro sid lower. industry 9 wheels orange (laced to stans 355). bontrager jones xr tubeless ready tires. stans goo. mango king headset. syntace duraflite carbon bar- 9 degree sweep. syntace f99 90mm stem. juicy ultimate brakes. x.o twist shifters. bontrager grips. noir carbon cranks. x.9 front derailleur. use sumo carbon post. wtb deva saddle. x.o rear derailleur. sram pg990 cassette. sram pc991 hollow pin chain. crank brothers twin ti pedals with shortened axles. king ti bottle cages.

zero gravity