On Parenting a teenager.

just a random definition that came to me ---using nature as the analogy.

I liken being a parent of a teenager to witnessing lightning and thunder ---it can be startling, shocking, intriguing, wild, uncontrollable and even down right disturbing....but undoubtedly there is always the most beautiful rainbow somewhere nearby ---usually appearing before, during or after the storm. I choose to focus on that rainbow, and to ride the waves of lightning and thunder as needed elements to bring about the creation of the rainbow in the first place.

Myles Anthony, you are my rainbow. (and as you can see in the picture, he is clearly playing up the lightning and thunder! ;))

Word to morning rituals.....

Getting the skinny tire itch.....

These shots are a sample collection of a three week racing trip we did in Europe in The Spring of 2007. That yellow helmet would be the back up helmet I am using now (since I cracked my Giro when I flipped over my mountain bike a couple weeks ago). That yellow helmet sure has been around. The team was "Team Lipton" (for my new friends who may not know my prior race team experience), my teammates were phenomenal athletes as well as all-around amazing women. It's hard to believe that trip was almost two years ago! We were there for three weeks and although we had a smaller team there than originally planned (injuries kept some of our girls home), we still had a great racing experience. We had the privilege of staying at THE SRM house up on a gorgeous hill in Lucca, and honestly....the weather, the accommodations, the people, the experience, the lessons, the racing ....none of it could have been better.
When I look at pics like this it reminds me that I still have the itch to race my road bike......expect to see me out there this year, just can't quite tell you when or where but I can tell you that a certain Wednesday ride I am doing might just make me a bionic woman come summer time! ;)~

KESTREL 2009

The man behind the plan is Steve Harad (Steven Harad)....go on Google him, educate yourself. He's great guy and is a man with vision for Kestrel that will not disappoint.


....read the post below, I'm not saying we're perfect (not one bike company out there is by the way!), but I read this this little excerpt from a another blog and thought it was worth sharing and noting, especially since mr bikesnobnyc seems to think that all we are is some wack job company that produces bikes without brains and thought and engineering and that only retired dentists will bother caring that we are back in business. Whatever yo-ho....to each their own.

Here's the forum post:
"A little extra positive feedback to Kestrel (parent Company - Advanced Sports Inc. - ASI - maker of Fuji and SE Bikes). Especially to Steve Harad - Kestrel Manager. I had a warranty situation and Steve took care of business! He took special time out from an Ironman Kestrel booth to communicate with me several times and get some action going. Just what one would hope all good business people would do. Also, "job well done" to Roy Hough at Kestrel for getting my frame "in the mail".
On the local front - Nytro took care of the actual Kestrel transactions - David Hull - Customer Service/Shipping and James - Service Manager worked with me in a very professional and positive way.
Disclaimer - I have no connection (other than spending my money) with either of these companies. Sometimes one hears complaints about business dealings - so it is good to deal with some folks that did thing correctly - right from the start to the finish. - and nice to have a great bike again."

Cool hey.

So without sounding like to much of a brat...can I just say "shut up and ride". If we all did that, the world would be a better place ---GUARANTEED. I don't care if you ride a cruiser, a fixie, a BMX bike, a tandem, a comfort bike, a touring bike, a friggin unicycle, a downhill bike, a tricycle, a hardtail, a rigid, a triathlon bike, or a bike made of whatever material.....aluminum, carbon, steel, titanium, bamboo etc etc......you get the picture. Just enjoy yourself already.

Got my ticket, March 23rd -- hot damn.

The weekend--- Palomar Mountain, Qualcomm Supercross, San Juan Trail, and missing The Tour of California Women's Crit.

How about that for Palomar Mountain ---

Good thing the Tour of California is passing through The Palomar Pass six days from now, because they're have been some big snowflakes falling and SUPER cold temps up there lately. We climbed it yesterday. It was gorgeous, and freezing, and epic, and lovely all at the same time ----and absolutely PACKED with California people at the top enjoying a little glimpse of what life would be like with "seasons"! It was so sweet and cute to see all the families with their little sleds and big gloves and cozy hats....throwing snowballs and making snowpeople, and even packing their truck beds with snow to take back down the mountain as if the darn stuff was like finding gold!
Having grown up in Ohio, I have to say I just don't have the same oooo-ahhh feeling about seeing snow, but it was nice to see that all those people were having fun romping around up there. --- Of course, our ideas of romping around fun was to make a training day of it, and we opted to ride our bikes up, didn't have any of the cozy warm fleece hats or jackets that everyone else was covered up with (and I tell you those people looked at us like we were aliens showing up at the top on bicycles with skinny little lycra outfits!). So for us it was a mini victory making it to the top in those conditions. We made a quick trip into the general store for a big 'ol hot chocolate....and then zip zip zip, down the mountain we went. After about 2000ft of descending the roads dried out so it wasn't so sketchy, and it started to actually be fun!... I'm not even sure I want to know what the temperature was, but I know for sure it was ridiculously cold....and I think it took about an hour to thaw out at the taco stand when we got to the bottom for lunch!
The IPA helped ;)

It was well worth the trek out there though.....days like that, with tough terrain and far from perfect elements that can leave much to be desired and make you wonder what in the heck kind of love of suffering on the bike this is (is it an an addiction i wonder?!), it sure can on the other hand make you appreciate your body and how it just keeps on taking on the next challenge the mind creates, and it definitely makes ya appreciate and respect mother nature and all of the gifts she gives us. One downer of the day was seeing a roadster moto guy laid out in one of the seemingly endless hairpin turns on the climb ---guess he overshot the turn then lost control and went straight into the side wall of the mountain. By the time we rolled around the bend, he was up and standing in one piece (...shaking like mad and smoking a much deserved cigarette!), but his bike looked like it was going to cost a pretty penny to fix...no bueno... but, better to see his bike all banged up rather than his body! Good thing he did that on the uphill and not while descending...that could of changed everything.

And speaking of banged up bodies, I went out and rode with some of The RADS guys on Saturday morning, my second chance to get out on The San Juan Trail and I was not missing that opportunity! My body was itching for a good mountain bike ride, so I hopped on the plan. We went up the infamous San Juan Trail, around Cocktail Rock...down some crazy root and rut descent and then back up to the rock and down San Juan again. The trails were awesome from the rain and the sun was shining, the views were epic and the company (as per usual) was unbeatable. I was definitely taking it easy, no attempts to break any records up the hill or do any daring "test the limits" descending, but hey....how about this for a surprise...I actually crashed AGAIN!

Gosh darn-it! Don't ask....but I will tell ya.
I thought I had it. It wasn't that tricky and trust me, no one was around so this wasn't an attempt to show off ;)~ It was just one of the many hairpins (San Juan has a whole set of epic hairpins), and for some stupid reason I was pretending I was a BMXer (hahaha...I may be a Lyons but i am not known to have mad BMX skills!), anyway I have been having fun dropping my seat all the way down and descending in the saddle rather than "cross-country" style. So... I had dropped my seat all the way down, approached this hairpin, threw my foot out, pulle the rear brake and made a quick and slick little attempt at 180 degree slide through the turn, but I botched it up somehow and all I did was jam myself up and take another tumble (i'm typically good for at least one crash on every mountain bike ride these days!) It should be known that I am a bit of a noise box when I ride, I make all sorts of sounds and I talk to myself often, I think I must have cussed out loud at myself for the next five minutes after I got up and continued down the trail. It just kills me when I "see" how it can be done ---the technical stuff you know, and I KNOW I have it in me to do it....yet I just keep launching myself into mid-air when I should be staying upright!

All part of the grand adventure, no complaints....just got to keep working at it and make sure I stay in one piece!

So in between these two epic rides, I made a mad dash down to go watch SuperCross at Qualcomm Saturday night. Man... Bubba Stewart walked away with it. He is really from out of this world. And Derek Costella (The All Access rider) who is quickly becoming one of my favorites to watch made the main again! Good going Derek :)
Watching the race at that venue was cool. I had never been there, the facility is really nice and personally, I LIKED the design of the track for the night....and I must add that I also liked The Monster after-party at The "W" in San Diego, that was a sweet spot for sure......

And hey.....we got lucky all weekend, no rain, nowhere at all. Wahoo.
Sorry for the Santa Rosa Criterium ladies, but I can honestly say that as much I missed racing, my weekend was far too enjoyable, still getting to pedal, still being with special friends and still living the dream ----and dang that rain just looked MISERABLE....not my cup of tea right now, for sure.

Nice job to to all the women who kicked ass out there though! --those girls in the break made the smart choice to get up the road, and with the rain, you could have pretty much called it that a break would go and not come back. And one more thing (of course congrats to the podium women), but a special congrats to Lauren Tamayo for making the podium and to Sarah Bamberger who whipped it in for a top five on the day! Way to make it happen chicas!

PROPS to the FEMALE side of the sport.....

With all the hooplah around every pro men's team getting press and being seen in the state of California while preparing for the big Tour, and of course Lancy Pants and his comeback making headlines and all the other notable and deserving big guns getting media exposure and credit, I would like to take a moment in my simple little blogger page to give props to the pro racing women out there. These ladies duke it out, give their all ---and by the way, make MAJOR sacrifices to basically race for peanuts on the pro-circuit (that would be a very long post to explain some hard facts that the public has no clue about and I just dont have the time or interest to bother with sharing any of that right now, so we will skip that part and keep it all positive shall we!). Anyway, it should be known that the ladies you see in this picture will go down in history as some of the best sprinters that have raced here in the U.S. --- I'd like to give major kudos to all the people, the sponsors, and the fans that believe in, support and do their part to keep things rolling for the racing women in the sport of cycling at all levels.

And man....I wish I had been there to race!
Rock on ladies....rock on.

Winner for the day: Laura Van Gilder (congrats!)
2nd: Gina Grain
3rd: Brooke Miller
4th: Tina Pic
5th Megan Gaurnier

All good intentions came to a crashing halt.

I had an epic crash. And I do not use the term lightly here....

So much for starting the season off with a bang. I have been diligently juggling a busy work schedule, making time to see my son, and getting in the training to be prepped and ready to go for some of the big races -- including The Tour Of California Women's Race. Looks like all my efforts, discipline, focus and yaddi ya will not help me this time around as the crash I had recently was a hefty one, and I have decided that I won't be making the trek up north to race with the women in The TOC Criterium. I have to admit I wish I could do the mind over matter thing, and just get my arse up there...but something tells me it would be a wasted effort.

And actually, I haven't had much time to think about my own body lately since all of my nurturing energy has been about the kitty for the last week, but now that he has been back to the vet for a little extra care, and is beginning to show signs of himself again, I have had more time to take care of "me" and really pay attention to all the kinks and tweaks. (I even went for a massage, it was the first time I hopped on a massage table in almost a year...jeez there is something not right about that!) Anyway, I had the darn appointment on the books for weeks as part of a holiday gift certificate, but little did I know how appropriately timed this therapy session would be.

Here's the crash scoop:

I had a crash about ten days ago on a great mountain bike ride, testing the envelope a bit on some "new to me" trails. It was a crash that ranks right up there as one of the "top five" most epic tumbles I have ever had....it might even rank in the top three...but for sure as far mountain bike crashes go -it ranks as #1.

It was a doozy to say the least.

It's hard to explain exactly what happened, but the end result was a superwoman launch and a hard hit that jolted my body from head to toe (well head to shins...but almost head to toe!). I was attempting to drop off a steep granite slab and somehow the bike and my body just didn't do it right, and over I went.

I hit the ground ---REALLY HARD.

I hit so hard that I made a very loud sound, kind of like in the movies...as if somebody had just punched me in the gut! Naturally, I was up in an instant...assumed myself okay (ummm can you say killer endorphins) and on I went to finish my ride (although I did walk all the way down the rest of that trail). I was a little dazed and my body was stinging everywhere, but i kept telling myself I was fine. When I made it back to the firepit I think I was still pumped with adrenaline and endorphins because I felt pretty alright for how hard I hit... plus I knocked back a couple of beers, which definitely helped me feel better! ;-)

Well then, along came the next morning. I literally woke up feeling like a freight train ran over me. I think I looked pretty messed up after my crash too, but everyone was being very polite and didn't have the heart to tell me what a wreck I looked like at the pit!! haha.....nice guys :)

Anyway...it took me a day or so to realize that I was pretty hurt. It's funny how it always seems to take a day or two for a crash to sink into the body. It also took me a day to bother looking at my helmet --I didn't even know I hit my head, but I had cracked my helmet dead center on the forehead and tore some of the shell right off of the surface (not sure why i didn't check that after the crash....)
But anyway...as for my body: my neck, shoulders and whole back were wrenched like I had been rear-ended in a car accident. I had "dirt-rash" on both arms, both quads (who gets skinned up quads?!) both knees, one shoulder ...and ahem...one breast (how i got skinned up through my jersey and jog bra is still a mystery!).

Needless to say, the wind has been taken out of my sails. I am healing faster than I imagined I would, but I am still getting little headaches. I have only ridden once since the crash, and dang even though my legs felt great -- overall, I still don't feel 100% (especially in my neck). For those of you who know me and my yoga beliefs...you know I am all about a having healthy spine. I can tell that my back needs some more time to get better. It was a bit of a bummer to pass on all the local racing last weekend, and it will also be a bummer to pass on The TOC race this weekend, especially since I have been riding well (not like i'm tooting my own horn or anything, but sometimes you can just tell when you have good form, and man...little miss weekend warrior was feeling good!).

But I'm no dummy...I know when to say when, and this is one of those times that the needs of my body will to override the desires of my mind ---so I am taking the rest and will miss a great race in Santa Rosa. I will get back in the game when it feels right. Honestly, I know how lucky I am. That crash should have left me in pieces and I'm thankful that I walked away from that one.

One thing for sure ---even though I crashed (rookie rookie rookie) the main reason it happened is because I was giving it a go. This girl is starting to spread her "RAD" wings in the dirt, and I'm ready to test myself on sections that are pretty tough. There is a reason why these rides are epic and infamous, they are ridiculously challenging! I consider it a good thing that I was pushing the envelope a bit...I like challenges, they make me feel alive. But I think I will be taking some downhill lessons from a certified specialist in that department in the very near future!! ;-) ...and it must be said --I intend to clear that entire trail. I know I can do it. yep yep yep.

So about the pics from the day (thank you Bill for the ride shots!)...the jersey/short/helmet pic hardly tells the story of the crash....but you can see how ground in the dirt is on my kit, that ought to explain the hit and the slide! I think the best way to describe my crash would be to say it looked like a belly flop, off a diving board into water...only there was no water....just dirt and granite! The other pics show you just what kind of epic riding that these rides are all about, and you can see the proof that I do walk alot of sections that are a little overwhelming, I don't go out there like a total kook and try to ride sections that are WAY over my head thats for sure...

I will keep going out there with the big boys though....these rides are quickly becoming my new love.....and someday I intend to clear almost everything that they do. practice practice practice.

Word to THE RADS.
They are the coolest group of guys I have ever had the privilege to ride with, and I am super thankful for all of their help, support, encouragement and advice.

Peace

Roots baby...

BMX OHIO MAGAZINE ---
My parent's contribution to the sport of BMX in Ohio.


What I remember most about this magazine is stapling these guys together in the basement of our home on Derby Rd (back in the early 80's). My parents seemed to have endless energy... always on a mission to tackle projects, and this one was no exception(hmmmm is that where i get it from!)!! My mom and dad, I have to say, were really the driving force behind getting our family into the world of the BMX culture. Sure my uncle bought the first BMX bike for my brother, and yes Todd (and my brother Brad were talented athletes), but the time and effort that my parents put into giving my brother's the opportunity to follow their dreams is absolutely priceless. Watching my dad get my brother's bikes ready, basically being the family mechanic and race coach, and watching my mom consistently get organized and packed, and all that they went through on a regular basis in (Mike Tamayo fashion) to pack and unpack that van weekend after weekend to get our family on the circuit ---well I just have to say....they are rockstars in my book. The bikes were like members of the family --kept right there in the dining room (and no we did not have a big house!). And can I just mention how much time my mom spent in the laundry room cleaning my brothers uniforms(!!). It all just blows my mind actually...thinking about what a full-time job it was for them to do all of that, on top of their regular jobs, and regular home and life stuff ----then they go and start a magazine to boot! Oh yes there's more too...my mom used to sit at the finish line and score at regional events (she was also the only mom in our uppity little suburb who rode a 20" bmx bike to work!), and my dad, being "mister personality" soon found his voice over the loud speaker at races and eventually was hired on to be a national race announcer who (in my mind and many others) was one of the most colorful announcers in the sport!

This was a family deal all the way around.

After having had the experiences that I have had racing road bikes, and having been on teams who have hired folks to do the job my parents did simply because of their love for their kids and for the love of the sport, well that right there is something that I reflect on often and that I can say I am very PROUD of (and yes I just said proud for my blogger friends who think i say "pro" and "proud" too much --now you have another hit for your word search).

Even though I wasn't as brave as my both of my brothers were on the race track..and I dropped out of racing pretty quick (took me almost twenty years to get back on the bike!), I was still a loyal sister and a devoted fan of my brothers--always getting right up front to watch their motos, semis, and main events. And yes...it used to scare me to death to watch Todd get crazy over jumps!
Truth is, I still wish I hadn't been such a little wimp about racing back then, but I wouldn't trade that track-side time for the world. Little did I know how much it would shape my future, and my love for the bike.....

But back to the magazine....I think my parents are the coolest people for recognizing and seeing the need to bring the efforts and accomplishments of the Ohio BMX folks to print in the 1980's. That was really hard work for them, and there was no great financial pay off, or gain to be made. They did it because they loved the sport and the people in it, and they believed in creating community. I'm a lucky girl to have role models like them.

No wonder I live and breathe bikes hey.

And yea yea yea the infamous Wildman is my brother (and my older brother Brad was a great freestyler that not too many people know about). I sure could tell you a ton of stories, but that will have to wait for another post! you could peep TL's site though, he tells his own wild stories! ;) www.toddlyons.com

Anyway back to my parents,
word to my Mom and Dad....love you guys!

Kitty-Kitty

Our little one is a little injured, and a little out of commission at the moment. :( Times like this make me appreciate how special my animal friends really are.......

In the dirt yo.

Words from the article:
"Road pro Brenda Lyons (630) took 1st Open Woman. Coming up on her is MBA TestRider Jon Buckell--1st 19-26 Sport, 3rd Pro Super D and 5th in Pro Downhill."
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Huge props to Mountain Bike Action for doing a story on the series and big thanks for putting a shot of me in the press...sweet.

Copy and paste this link to see the full article:
http://mbaction.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=D294F416B5814E509AEDDD1022AFBDAE

Thanks to my friends down in here in SoCal and the folks at Southridge Park, I am back to my roots and racing in the dirt! :)
I'm not exactly fast like Pua Sawicki, but I am having a helluva good time out there!

Myles makes me smile.....

Made a super quick trip up north, and introduced Myles to the world of SuperCross....very-very special.