THE TOP TEN (or twenty), ....THINGS I LOVED ABOUT 2007!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Anita Bear-Steadfast in Friendship, Life, and Parenting

Is there really a duck to shoot?

Children are worthy of every speck of loving attention we have for them.

Not necessarily in this order, but these were the TOPS.

1) Racing in Wisconsin.
2) My best bud, Anita Bear.
3) Coaching, Coaching, Coaching, and more Coaching.
4) Racing for Team Mack Paper Company. Thanks Gary, Sharmin, and Fleck! You are the best!
5) Living the good life with my twin brother.
6) Hanging out with young people on bikes!
7) Dancing in Vegas with two of the best people on the planet!
8) Hanging out and traveling with Sweet John.
9) Frank and 2 Wheel Racing Team
10) Riding with Dolce Divas
11) Winning $400 in a bike race.
12) Adam
13) D.J. Wright
14) The people I met at Shawn's Cycling clinic.
15) Playing Foot Fish with Max and Grant
16) Hanging out with Ryan
17) Shooting the duck at Martina's birthday party
18) Rick B.


YOU JUST LET ME KNOW, if there's something I am missing here!

SUNSHINE makes the world go round......and my pedals, and my wheels, and my legs......

I could have stayed inside to cuddle.

But.............I didn't.

This time of year, when the sun is out in Way West County, and it's 53 degrees,.....and it's been raining, and the ground is cold, and the trees are wet, and the shade is wet....it's not really all that warm. When the air is moving along, up your nose, through your helmet, and in all the little spaces in your kit, it's not 53 degrees. Is this rocket science?

The air is moist.... As the body gets more moist, and the clothing being worn gets moist, that moisture starts to match the temperature of the air which is breezing at you, ...at a pretty good clip, even on a low key ride. So, the moral of the story: Base, Base, Base, Baby. The base layer is what you build on to make the intensity more handle-able (sounds like a talk on periodization) ....of course I am referring to the intensity of the cold moist clothing you are wearing as you roll along. Isn't this obvious to most? Of course, but hey, some folks aren't most. I recently had to make just these points to someone who I know. This particular person lives and rides near SNOW!! That's why it's good to make these points! What a glorious sunshiny day it was today.

What did you do today?

RIDING IN THE RAIN RULES

Well, if you have the right gear, anyway. Hands are tricky to keep warm. I notice that my friends who don't wear the right gloves get grumpy really fast, and start fantasizing about their warm showers really early in the ride. Yes, you know who you are.

Anyway....as long as you keep moving, hypothermia stays in check very well. And, yea, there's the bike cleaning, and the removal of wet clothes to a pile, that you better do something with very soon, or else. But, all in all, a rainy calm day can be super cool, and enjoyable......Have fun out there!!

Right here on the homefront........West County Cruisers

The Divas have come to Sonoma County a couple of times now, they rock. Funny, relaxed, serious, (about the important things), but generally living as genuine Dolce Divas.

And about the season, since it 'tis the season:

What a wonderful winter so far! Dodging raindrops, getting caught in the fog, then in the clear, when the ocean is near, then in the trees, where the road may be wet, but dry are my knees.

So many updates......For now, the update will be today. Christmas was sunny and relaxing. My twin brother is the best. He's named after Basil Rathbone, the British actor who used to play Sherlock Holmes, pronounced: Bazzle...

Basil: "I got the yams, the turkey, and the cranberry stuff, what do you have?"
Laurel: "I've got the salad, the dressing, and the pesto."
Basil: "Pesto? That sounds yummy....NOT."
Laurel: "Well, I think it's good on the turkey!"
Basil: "I'm sure you will love it."
Laurel: "Well, I think mom will like it too."
Basil: "Yea, let me whip up some angel hair for us."

So, yea, pesto on the turkey...mmm tasty.

He's one of my bestest buds in the world. I can talk to him about anything, and he'll say, "Well, Laurel, it's gonna happen this way, or it's not.....Either way, you'll know in good time." Wise old soul.

I'll be checking in more often, I promise.