Feliz Cumpleanos a mi!

Yesterday, the 21st was my 27th B-Day. I woke up to a dreary rainy morning. NOt the kind of weather I wanted for my birthday. So, agonizingly I forced myself to ride the trainer for a couple of hours. As I was riding, I began to get a little home sick. This rarely, if ever happens, so of course, by this time I was pouting as I looked down and realized I had about 90 minutes left before I could get off.

I drove to work in the rain as I was preparing for a long shift on my feet thinking how old I was feeling. When I walked into work Michelle, the manager, told me that someone had dropped something off for me that morning and it was in the back. I was kind of confused because I wasn't expecting anything from anyone. As I got closer to the back, I saw a beautiful boquet of purple and yellow irises, yellow lillies, and other gorgeous fillings and flowers. There was also a little carrot cake in the fridge waiting for me! It was from Mr. V! After that, I talked with my family which made my home sickness go away.

It ended up being a great birthday!!!

Wine tasting in Napa Valley...or not...

This past Saturday, I did a fantastic ride out in Napa and Sonoma County. What made the ride so wonderful was not the beautiful mid 60's weather and bright sun, not the beautiful climbs with the green trees and the wildflowers, nor the wildlife that we saw all around us. What made the ride perfect was the company that I was riding with.

First, there was our heroic guide for the ride, Buehler. Yes, that's right, as in Ferris Buehler. We all thought he was a fictional character, right? Well, I was proven wrong this weekend. He really exists! Buehler was an admierable leader. He took us on a tour of a few mountain passes and on the way, showed us the commodities that Northern California is known for. It's amazing how proliferous weeds can grow in that region!

The next crazy fool that I happened to be lucky enough to ride with was a crazy cross dressing Kiwi from Colorado Springs named Conrad. No joke, he showed up on his bike wearing a tigress spandex suit! (Apparently it's the latest style down under.) It was a pain riding behind him on the long descents because the tail of his costume would whip you in the face. Also, instead of purring like a tigress, he would hum as the rest of us were huffing and puffing up the climbs.

Last but not least, Daryl S. Vickers made an appearance for the ride on that fancy green bike of his. We rode through his "hood" of Sonoma County where he showed the rest of us his double wide with the plastic flowers (pansies) on the front porch. Oh my gosh! I think he must've had ants in his pants because the last mountain pass that we did, he took off like there was no tomorrow! Daryl kept looking back and laughing in an evil way at the rest of us as we were suffering and slobbering on ourselves just trying to not fall over. Maybe it was the Oklahoma style mullett that made him go so fast?

So, I didn't do any wine tasting, but I thought the heading would get attention. None of the vineyards were offering free bottles of wine, or else I would've definetly been in line!

Forgot your coffee??

So, today at work, this woman ordered a double cherry supreme mocha. It makes me think that it's the type of drink Willy Wonka wakes up with every morning. (To give a little background to the story; I sometimes space out at work because I work in the afternoons which is my down time; and I'm usually tired because of riding my bike like a mad woman.) I handed the woman her drink and she walked out the door with a skip in her step because of the tasty coffee I just made her. I took the next drink to be made and as I twisted off the espresso metal thing that you put the coffee grounds in, (what's the name of it?) I realized that I forgot to start the espresso maker for the woman's double shots. Oops, I made her a mocha without the coffee in it. Ha! Ha! I fooled her! I mean, I'm so good that she never even noticed there was no espresso in her drink!

What will make you go faster on a training ride?

Today, I finally rolled out about 1 p.m. for my ride. I was procrastinating because I knew I had some hard work ahead of me that I just did not want to do! I had 3x15 min. in Z4 ahead of me. The first 2 on the rollies of Hwy 1 N. of Santa Cruz and the 3rd was up Bonnie Doon Rd. Yikes!!! Not so very fun.

So...I was wondering how I could do these intervals and enjoy myself at the same time? While warming up along Cliff St. in Santa Cruz pondering this question I came across quite a catch on a beautiful green Rock Lobster road bike. "Sheesh!" I thought, "I could ride behind him forever!" Of course, besides the bike the first thing I noticed was the great Oklahoma-style mullet sticking out from under the helmet. Instead of hoping that he would notice me, I blatantly went up along side him and commented on his hair and how it made me feel a little home sick for Texas. I figured this was one of the best pick up lines that I could think of on the spur of the moment. (Like I have tons of pick up lines in my pocket, anyways.) He introduced himself as Daryl S. Vickers from the trailer parks of Sonoma County. (Double wide, not single) "Wow! Big Spender!" I hollered. After a little bit more chit chatting, we figured out that we were heading the same way. "Allright!" I thought to myself. I will have something to chase while doing my intervals!

Needless to say, I chased that boy like white on rice. After the ride, I asked him out on a date to the classiest restaurant I could think of...McyD's!! My treat!! I was thinking of the advice that Grandma Z. has always given to her grandaughters, "You can never have anything less than 8 boyfriends."

Central Valley Classic

This past weekend happened to be a record low for Central California. It actually snowed in Santa Cruz! Friday was supposed to be a 6 mile uphill time trial in the mountains West of Fresno. The freezing temperatures caused there to be ice on the road, so the morning of, it was changed to a 17 mile flat course. 12 miles flat as a pancake in a headwind and the last 5 a little less flat with a side wind, with the last kilometer uphill (finally). Allright! Just what I didn't want! Well, I learned a valuable lesson on Friday...always wear a watch before races and set the watch to the official time. Needless to say, I was late for my start time and I have absolutely no idea what my time was because I was so pissed off at myself I didn't even start my watch. I just took off and rode as hard as I could. The official time has me as being out there for an hour, which I know is sooo off. I figure at least it wasn't a stage race nor the uphill tt which would've been my dream course. So...I went to Big Kmart afterwards and bought myself a watch that afternoon!

Saturday was supposed to be a 90 mile circuit race. (6 laps of 15 miles). This as well was flat like driving through Midland/Odessa. As we all lined up with rain coats and 5 layers a piece on, the officials asked if any of us would protest if the race was cut to 5 laps. Of course not! What a silly question! I felt so great during the race as we were rained and sleeted on! I kept reminding myself to eat and eat because I have a problem with bonking in road races. Towards the end of the 4th lap, some squirley rider from Palo Alto on a straight away cut across the field causing a chain reaction of crashes. I was so lucky to be a part of it. I'm not quite sure what happened, but I know that my butt got run over, my neck bent like I never knew it would and my arm was pulled either by another bike or a body. Needless to say, whenever everyone got off of me, there were only two of us left and it was taking a while for me to get up. Neutral support looked at my bike, took it away and put it on top of their car. I hobbled over to a follow vehicle and they drove me back to the medical tent. I was so livid that my race was over because I felt great!

Sunday was another very cold, but sunny day in downtown Fresno. It was a crit with a 180 degree turn in it. Yes, another one of my favorite type of races!!! I was so nervous before the race that I couldn't even talk and I was shaking. I knew that there were heavy hitters out there and the pace was going to be out of the gun from the beginning. I hung in there and I was so proud of myself for holding on.

MY NEW BIKE!!!!

Today was the second day on my new Kona Queen Zing. The words I would use to sum up the way it feels is THIS BIKE FREAKING ROCKS!!! I can't really say much more because I am just speechless about the way the bike feels.

Right now we are getting "glamed up" for some photo shoots. Check out
http://www.pbase.com/sdukes/training_camp_2006

for photos of our training camp.

First night of training camp

So, last night I had my first "moment" with my new Kona Queen Zing. (If you want to see pictures of the bike check out Jen C's and Kele's blogs because I don't have a camera still.) We bonded quite well! I must say that I'm not looking back at my old bike. If you want to buy it, I'll give it to you for a great deal!

So, when getting ready to go to bed, Jen mentioned something about Brent coming into bed when he finished doing manager duties. I seriously thought she was joking, but when she got in the bed, she moved to the middle and put a pillow down for Brent. I soon realized that we were all going to be three peas in a pod in a queen size bed. Amazingly enough, I slept allright. Thank goodness I was on the edge so that I could stick my hot feet out in the middle of the night! (Those damn hot feet in the middle of the night can keep you up.) FYI Brent does snore! I woke up in the middle of the night with Jen and I cheek to cheek (butts that is). When my alarm went off at 6:30 am, we all woke up saying "good morning" like a cheerful family. It made me think of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when all the grandparents share a bed. (A scene that I have always thought kinky ever since I can remember.) Thankfully, tonight we three head to a motel where there will be two beds. I think my new Kona bike will be my bed mate tonight. (always married to the bike.)