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.

The Sweet Life Continues-Dolce Vita RAH!

After taking two years to fly solo, and take care of some miscellaneous details like a broken shoulder, and missing racing legs, I have found a place to be for the next phase of my bike racing scene. They are the Dolce Vita Racing Team. Based in Marin county, they have phenomenal leadership, and fun, down to earth folks who love to ride and race. The Men's side is super supportive of the women's side, and vice versa...the way a great team should be. Onward, ho, more later, but here's a shot of last year's squad and a shot of myself with one of the packages of potential on the team, Sarah Miller.

The Cross Training Season and My Friend Ryan

Whoa, where did the off season go? Well, my friend Ryan can tell you, a small chunk of it was with him!!! It went to playing flag football, hand ball, buns-up (a throwing game with a tennis ball) , basketball, and Mr. Beanbag! What? Let me explain: You see, in the process of trying to come up with fun stuff to do that was unrelated to cycling, I had an opportunity to hang out with my friend Ryan for 4 days! Geesh, if you ever want to really get some good cross training in, hang out with a 9 year old for 4 days, and play whatever sport he wants you to play. Wow.

I know, all of you parents may be snickering, "she has no clue." or maybe you're saying, "I wish she'd come do that with my kid". But, there I was, in charge of Ryan, his 13 year old brother, and his 15 year old sister for 4 days, while Mom and Dad were out of town. One day, I was completely tuckered from the outdoor activities that we had been doing, we watched a movie (thank goodness, I got to sit down), then we played some cards. While we were playing cards, Ryan pulled this huge beanbag over to where we were sitting, so he could sit on it. The rest is history.

We had been talking about Halloween, and this is how it unfolded:

Ryan: "I want to be a beanbag for Halloween!"
Me: "Well, if you're gonna do that, you should practice first!"
Ryan: "O.K.!"

And the next thing you know, he was inside the beanbag, dragging it around, and jumping in it and on it, and with it, and ............after awhile, I think the whole idea of being a beanbag wore off. He was all out wrestling the thing! It was hilarious! These shots barely touch the fun that was had, but I had to share a bit of it. 9 year olds ROCK!!!

Round and Round They Go!!!

Today was a great day for a little bike clinic for 4th and 5th graders. Sometimes, even if you spell it out in big letters for them, they still just want to go as fast as they can on their bikes. They are so funny. One of the drills was with pairs, and they were to ride side-by-side, then switch to riding single file, then side-by-side, then single file with the other rider taking the lead. But, they simply could not help riding really fast AWAY from their buddy. It was pure humor. Close the gap!!

The real fun started when I had the front rider come upon an imaginary "huge rock" in the road, and do a quick-stop! The rider behind had to be at the top of their game, so they would not ram into their friend. Not even a casualty here. They did great (must have been all of that skidding I let them do beforehand).

Mandalay Bay Super Crit in Las Vegas-Sunlight, Twilight, Bright Lights

The course was flat and fast. There were about 60 women on the line. Big guns from all over. Cheerwine ruled the day, no surprise there. Aaron's had some riders on the line, some other strong solo riders. It was warm, and oh so dry. It was hard to move forward in the field, but with about 10 laps to go, I finally started edging forward. With two to go, I had made it to the top third of the field, and was moving forward when a rider on my right, tipped into a metal barricade. I did not go down, but I was gapped with several other riders, and we chased for the last lap and a half. I ended up 29th out of about 54 finishers, and I was upright. More next season. Look for updates on my new team, and other cool things I am up to.

A Personal Record on Mount Tamalpais-Stinson Beach, CA

The weather was great. The competition was inspiring. The mountain, of course, is awesome with 12 miles of terrain and 2000 feet of climbing. My legs felt a little tired from previous days training, but there I was, settling into a rhythm up the mountain, that felt like it was going to help me reach my goal of sub 52 minutes at the finish. I looked at my watch twice: Once at 30 minutes, when I thought to myself: 'I have 22 minutes to get to the finish.' Then, I looked again at 50 minutes, and kicked my bootie into high gear to finish in 51:51!! I was elated. What a great ride. I visualized it this way, then, during the race, I stayed true to believing I could make the goal, and there it was... I was officially 9th place out of 20 riders, because two people tied for 8th place. A great ride. Way better than that broken shoulder I had last year. Whew.....
Thanks for reading. Infineon races on Tuesday night...and Super Crit on September 27th.