Now that was a wonderful day--

....and all for a GREAT cause! I've ridden my two-wheel pedal bike up Palomar Mountain, but doing South and East Grade on a Ducati was a whole different kind of treat .......words cannot describe the feeling of being on the back of a bike driven by one of the best. Pure luxury.

OH BOY....

The parents are visiting.....stay tuned. ;)

Sweet hey.

Now that's a HOT looking Fuji Track Pro.......lucky me to meet this guy and his bike at random along my daily route. Made me smile fosho.

Time to get an alarm clock....

So... its just been me and my silly little cell phone every night ever since I moved down here for my new job. I haven't got a true clock next to the bed. I use this little phone for everything, it goes with me everywhere ...but this ding dong also uses it for her alarm clock too, and guess what?... The phone battery went dead overnight last night (of ALL times!) and I missed my wake-up call to be on a special, out of the ordinary 6:30am conference call with work. Dang....major work foul, I think I'm sent to the bench for this one. Bummer...I hate missing work commitments!!!! ---- nevermind the 6:30am conference call time, don't let that shock you, that's a normal time for us west coasters for our regular Monday morning calls since we have an east coast based company. It's a little odd sometimes, being groggy on these Monday morning calls, but I'm used to them now. However, today was a special Friday call ...and yours truly slept til 7am without the alarm and missed the call.

Man......I suck. You can bet I'm buying an alarm clock today.

I'm kind of liking the looks of this one below. It could make every morning an adventure, and hey...you know me, I like adventures! :)





The clock works like you'd expect an alarm to, but has an ominous little propeller up top that shoots off when it's time to get up. You won't be able to turn it off until you retrieve the prop and return it to its holder on the clock. Just don't sleep with your face toward the ceiling, or with any of the windows open.

Hahahahahaha...wouldn't that be fun.

Girl Time :)

Ryan Hostetter came to spend the weekend with me and we had just a fabulous time! Yes, of course the weekend was centered around riding and we rode a beautiful training loop everyday day, but we also made sure to add in some twilight pier walks, nightime pedaltime, tasty dinner eats, special vino, and yum-yum desserts into the weekend as well. Love this SoCal "training weekend" life. ;-)

Anyway, she's a way cool chick, super strong on the bike, and I'm just blown away at the fact that even though we hardly knew each other, we had such a great weekend hanging out. It's cool when life deals you people that really mean something and make you feel that just by knowing them your life is enhanced. That's how I feel about Ryan. If you see her at a race say hello (she's an adorable auburn haired beauty with blue eyes and fair skin....but sorry boys she's married to a special guy!) If you do meet her, you'll see what I mean, she's a great gal. Look for her, she'll be sporting Velo Bella kit (one of my favorite all around women's teams ever for many reasons!!...love you Sabine) and if you watch her race, I bet she'll be making every effort to be right in the thick of the action ---and perhaps find her way to the top step of that podium!

Go Ryan Go ...I might be your new number one fan :)

Flying B Ranch--- compliments of Joe Lawwill

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Yo People......get ready there is a new thing coming into the world for dirt lovers. Joe Lawwill has been working HARD to get approval for an epic soon to be mountain bike trail park in Irvine Ca. --- and guess what baby?.... it's been approved! We not only need to thank the owner of the land for his generosity and support for mountain bikers, but we also need to thank Joe (and his partners) for their diligence in getting this park approved.

Now this is where you come in....
We ALL need to do our part to make this baby come to life. It's not easy times in the world of money and we all know that.....but we also know that a park like this is the kind of thing that you will be happy and proud to have been a part of supporting so that you can enjoy it, as well as feel good about leaving a legacy behind for generations to come.

So when the time comes......PLEASE get involved, volunteer, spread the word, kick down some money...whatever....just do it. It will be good for us all! :)


Thanks Joe...you rock. And by the way...Joe will be posting more as time comes about breaking ground and getting things going.....I'm just spreading the love and the excitement. Cheers :)

PRETTY IN PINK

What do you call this? --- perhaps a little "early-season" training prep for taking a slider across the pavement? whatever it was it was a doozy, and a damn good skid. i may have been granted all "10's" by the judges had they been there, for my slide across two lanes only left me with one "new to me" temporary tattoo. although i think that type of sliding practicing should remain in softball pre-season practice rather than cycling pre-season. i must admit i'm pretty darn sure that might have been a record distance pavement slide for me, however i think i much prefer the 180 tailspin view of oncoming riders on closed race circuits versus oncoming cars on open public streets! ....someone was on my side that's for sure. let's just call this a lucky day. i actually feel bad for the lady who braked in the lane i ended up in, she really looked petrified when i made eye contact with her at the end of my slide. the whole deal --the crash i mean, it was nobody's fault, just a training ride where one of things can happen ---and this time it did. how could i let it ruin my day? the day was glorious for many reasons, i just added a little adventure and excitement to go with the warm weather and sunshine. and i am once again learning the art of being grateful. things could have been a whole lot worse.
may i also say how nice it is that the city of Irvine takes such pride in the surface of their roads --for the digger took i had no gravel, no road pebbles, and really almost no grit and road grime on my road rash at all either. that was pretty wild. i swear they MUST power wash their streets when no one is looking!