Back on track and slightly on the attack...

I have not forgotten my blogger life! I have just been VERY busy these days. Yes, I am now a Race Pro turned Sales Pro, but don't let that fool you --I will be kitting up and getting busy racing next year! More news to come on that ... but man, I got to say that I am not at all pleased with the "report" I read on Cycling News about the 2008 NRC racing schedule announcement (no offense to Mr. Mark Zalewski...because it's not his fault!)
It's just that the report reminds me how much the women in our sport are being left behind....and that totally gets me riled up people.

Totally........

Now now now.. you don't have to tell me, I know that there are plenty of way cool people out there doing their part support grow and enhance our sport for women, but it's time that the big daddy (USA Cycling) does it's part too. Make some dang requirements that these big time mens races, at the very least(!), add a one day women's criterium or circuit race to the schedule. Don't tell me it's too hard or that it costs too much money, please don't go there. It's not that hard!

Jeez....

People are accomplishing way more difficult tasks in this world.

puff puff puff...

Hopefully the fires are going to start settling down now.... it's been tough on everyone in SoCal -- no ifs ands or buts about it.

Yo Tony!

I wish these pictures would post larger in size!....this is about as cool as it gets when you are talkiing old school bike shops in the heart of L.A.! Check out the sign and check out the front window. The owner (his name is Joe..Tony has passed away) told me that the windows used to get rocks thrown through them all the time. The solution besides your typical bars? How about a cool piece of art?! LOve it. It was way cooler in person. This shop is something like 60 years old! And JOe?...well he was about the sweetest old man I've ever met :) ...he bought our bikes too.....even sweeter!

Well.... here it is.

First of all... I love my family. I love my friends. I love my job. I love my life. I love my world.

But, let me tell ya.....it's been a long couple of weeks! In the last ten days...my son got in a mother load of teen trouble, my dear grandmother passed away, my luck ran out on hwy 5 and I got a speeding ticket clocked at 90mph (hey... got it down from a hundred before the dude tagged me), I jammed the cd player in my car (very costly repair coming my way), I drove into a cement pillar and got my first scratch on my "new to me" car, and I even went the wrong way on a busy Huntington Beach Rd. ---only to have a bunch of cars come at me head on!!! ---yes, I survived to tell the story!
The good news is that I think I'm coming back around to Earth now.... thank the stars.

Love Birds...

Mike and Lauren tie the knot....congrats to them!

Live and in the flesh...and man that woman can sing!

..took a break from work and mama-hood and training and went to see PJ Harvey at the Orpheum Theater in L.A. last night. That woman is amazing. She's beautiful, sweet, modest, rough, talented, smart, etc etc..... get the picture? Plus... there were some famous peeps there watching the show, but I don't keep up on famous people very welll...so how was I supposed to know!

Track Nationals..

Why don't more people go to watch this stuff? It was SO impressive!!!

INTERBIKE 2007 ... OBEY TRACK BIKE.

I love my job. Look at this sweet fixed gear bike in our line. Shepard Fairy and Fuji.... making it happen.
Trust me when I say that this bike is even sweeter in person (just like me!! hahaha)

Woof!

Got home from Interbike a few hours ago....the dogs are barking louder than ever!

Celebrate the Bike

On my way to Interbike.... see you there!!!

Sweet Shop... www.SLB23.com

Giving Props to one of my dealers...check him out.
This has gotta be one of the cooler web pages I've seen.....

You really know it's the "Off-Season" when....

..when you've had more glasses of wine in one week than rides!

Good thing I kept the brakes on!

Normally, I open my brakes up all the way on my bike. I don't like abrupt stopping one bit. I don't even like to use my brakes.

Usually.

Today was a different story. I jumped off the start of a streetlight with a pretty fast moving bus (remember So Cal speed), only to be shocked into an abrupt stop when the bus pulled over about five hundred meters from the light. I had just worked up to full speed behind the darn thing, and was smack dab on the bumper, right on the middle of the big beast. I was totally caught off-guard when the thing stopped!
Thank goodness I had absentmindedly left the brakes all the way closed today, due to a recent wheelset change. You'll be happy to know I held it up through the sideways fishtail skid! Probably lost some serious tread on the tire from that one, and probably turned more than a few heads with my antics. Some local high school was just getting out and there were people everywhere! I was the only clueless one. Chuckle chuckle.......

The Lyons Dynamic Duo

Making the jump from "Racing" Pro to "Sales" Pro...Can you say STEEP learning curve..?!

Enough said.

Tis the "Off-Season"

Well....for me it's the off-season anyway! It's time to bust out the running shoes. That picture above is from The Activa Sports photo shoot I did a couple of months ago. Funny note about that day: just before that picture was taken, a real live tasmanian devil blew through our photo site. It was nuts!!! I'm not sure I ever knew those things were real beyond the Road Runner cartoons...beep-beep!

StarStruck--

I was driving home from work today, somehwere along PCH ...between Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, when Simon Cowell pulled up alongside me. How fast did I hang up my cell and get a picture? ...well evidently, not fast enough! --For those who know me, it's quite appropriate that he is my first star sighting. Good thing it was just my brother (and not a dealer!) that I hung up on.. LOL!

Working Girl

That's me in the picture just heading out for my first official "working day" in my new job as THE Southern California Sales Rep for FUJI and SE Bikes. In case you dont know about these companies, take a looksie..www.fujibikes.com and www.sebikes.com
What a cool day.

My New Baby

2005.5 Jetta TDI ... yep yep. happy me :)

Something tells me that...

EuroBike might blow Interbike outta the water when it comes to cool stuff going on....