Pooks Canyon

After watching Jon churn through the mud at last Sunday's Cyclocross race in Lembi Park, I felt a sudden urge to write a blog post.  Force of habit perhaps. We arrived at the course in a steady rain.  Finally, a rainy day in California!  Jon had new Challenge "Limus" tubular mud tires and was, of course, also equipped with a decade of mud experience.  I suspect, given how dusty and parched the last four years have been, some of the newer Cali-Crossers in the race had never ridden proper, muddy 'cross courses before.   After Jon's warm-up lap he came to the car and smiled, like, "I got this."  I smiled, too. All of us felt pretty confident as we headed to the start area, so imagine my surprise when, after the start whistle had blown and the racers were on their way, some guy was off the back and riding partially naked, struggling to put on his clothes, and that guy was Jon. Yes, Jon started the race about 25% naked.  Right before the start ...

Today was spent mired in the vagaries of new computer configuration. On the upshot, after trolling forums for answers to my Windows 7 woes, I discovered that my previous responses to other Windows forums earned me a little gold badge of nerdliness. Nice to be recognized. Jon just left for a Tuesday evening group ride, leaving a wave of embrocation vapors in his wake. Earlier, he took Axel for their weekly stint at the velodrome. I never washed the clods of Palo Duro Canyon off the frame so Axel probably left a trail of red dirt everywhere he went. Leah is going in circles of her own, having joined the interscholastic track team at Southern Hills. She aims to be a sprinter. I did a little 3 hour bike ride yesterday, myself. It turns out the offices of the company I subcontract for can be reached almost entirely by dirt trail. Unfortunately 3 hours was a bit long for my first ride of the season and I am feeling the pain today. It is a good day to be stuck at a computer receiving s...

It all started with iPhone alarms going off at 6am. Yes, we're on vacation in Mexico... Jon Baker style! We sleepily pulled on our cycling finest and wandered, spandex-clad, toward the main drag in search of a taxi. In the dark. The full crew was Jon, my brother-in-law Richard, my nephew Robert, my dad and myself; we were on the first leg of a bike ride that was to include taxis, buses and even a boat. We arrived at BikeMex on Guerrero where Oscar, the proprietor, set us up with the necessities. Guide, check. Sandwiches, check. Helmet and Gloves, check. Several bikes in varying states of repair, check. In the dawn light we rode through the cobbled streets of Puerto Vallarta to a bus stop where Oscar attempted to deposit us on the next bus to El Tuito. After much exchange with the driver it was determined we would wait for the next bus. The wait was nearly an hour. Standing at a Mexican bus stop wearing spandex - when the working people are all getting on the bus to go t...

He found this bike in the barn and it was his steed du jour. A Raleigh rigid mountain bike with "USA Design" . Tomorrow he gets a rental road bike from the bike shop. Soon his sponsor, Blue Competition Cycles...... RideBlue.Com is SAVING THE DAY with a new bike being sent to the farm here. Jon is noticeably more at ease knowing he'll at least get to do some races. I followed clever Kat's advice from a comment in a previous post and contacted United's media relations letting them know I'll be writing a article about the experience and sending it to anyone who'll listen if they don't make those bikes appear asap.

My new teammate, Lina (now aka Esta), invited me to go on an 'easy spin to Allenspark' yesterday. So I went. Lina brought her friend Abby who is training for a triathlon and is a natural climber despite having just started biking a few months ago. When I saw this sign I thought I was going to die. This was the darkest before the dawn moment. This was the last I saw of Lina at the bottom of South St Vrain canyon. Lina: That wasn't so bad, was it? Abby: I just started riding a bike a few months ago but still dropped you. Me: My legs hurt, gimme a bagel. The swanky Allenspark coffeeshop. Thanks Lina and Abby for a great workout. Here's to keeping up with you guys next Thursday!

Boulder County Cyclist Chases Suspect

When I visit Redding, Dad and I always go on a bike-about on the single speed 500 pound cruiser bikes. Today we went on what I would call a tour of the firelands. We've breathed about a pack of cigarettes worth of wildfire smoke and hung out with the CDF guy at the Igo Bar where he gave us fire updates. We took slow shallow breaths and stopping at watering holes liberally during our 5 hour epic. In the pic you see dad at the Mule Town road sign, for the back story on that road see Epic Cruiser Ride part one from June 2007.

Meet our new pop-up camper _________________ (insert name here... suggestions welcome). The model is a Coleman Destiny, she weighs 1200 pounds and stands less than 4 feet tall when collapsed. For those of you that don't know, we will spend much of this summer working/racing/riding on the road through California and Oregon. With queen, full, and twin beds, dual Thule Bike Racks, outlets for laptops, awning, and propane stove we'll be styling wherever we choose to stop. With three more bike trays on the Subaru we can bring five bikes. Do you think that will be sufficient? Perhaps it is cutting it close ;)

Have you seen a Google Maps "street view"? I discovered it last night when I Google'd my address and had the map option of street view... surprised to find out my entire street was scanned in at the street level. To up the interest factor here: today I was reading bfisks blog and she has posted a street view in Cleveland where you get to see a person crashing their bike into a driveway. Just click here then click north on the street and use your mouse to look to the right.

The woman in this car, angry because I was riding my bike in the road (I was in the left lane to make a left turn), pulled dangerously close to my rear wheel and honked. She proceeded to swerve to the side of the road, running Jon and Axel in the trailer into the curb. She called the police because Jon called her the B word. I asked her why she was trying to run me down and she said bikes aren't allowed in the roadway. Ha. Jon should've called her something worse. We have a court date May 20th.

Can you see the tiny needles in my fingers? Taking a leaf from Leah's book, I crashed my bike into a cactus. Also, got the Power Bars in the car but failed to bring the Power Bars on the ride. Also, accidentally took the loop the book said, and I quote, was for, "some brave souls looking for a rigorous workout." Jon, if you're reading this today, I may be home late.

Yesterday I got a sunburn riding my bike in 80 degree weather. Today I relieved said sunburn getting snowed on.

Jon received a bicycle spindle (the tiny thing he is holding) in the mail today. It weighs 42 grams and was sent inside smaller black box which was inside the large white box. It could have been mailed in an envelope with a single first class stamp. I think the people in charge of writing the warning label are also responsible for shipping.

I love riding bikes, mainly when it is sunny, between 60 and 85 degrees, and preferably not windy. Today I had 2 out of 3, but the wind did blow me home from Eldorado Springs so I didn't mind so much.

Went for a bike ride today and ended up having a coffee in Holland. Jon and I rode along the canals on our way out to the North Sea coastline; somewhere along the line we passed a sign saying we were approaching the town of Sluis. At this point Jon whips out a map and tells me we have made a wrong turn and are in Holland. Yay. Instead of dashing of to the nearest hash bar we settled instead for a nice coffee. An "Espresso" here is a cup of coffee and a "Mokka Espresso" is a regular shot of espresso. Dunno how to order a Mocha but it would probably involve the word chocolade. So I ordered a mokka espresso and Jon had a cappuccino and an appelbol. As we drank our coffee we speculated as to what the Appelbol would be. A bowl of apple? Mais non, it was a ball of apple. More precisely is was a peeled and cored apple, stuffed with cinnamon butter and wrapped in pastry crust. The effect is a spherical piece of apple pie. Delicious. Satisfied, we cycled off, circ...

We figured out Jon's race was on Channel One about 30 seconds before the start- perfect timing! This is the first time I have watched a live, televised, cyclocross race featuring my husband and I must say it was very cool!! We got a really great shot of him in the first lap heading through the barriers section. His start position was in the back because he only had 15 UCI points but he managed to come around a lot of other guys (very hard to do in 'cross). He said no one passed him which basically means he was riding behind a group that, had he started with them, he would've been able to keep up with them. We're happy with the result as October is really part of a building period for him. We expect better results in November and December. Thankfully the mechnicals got out of the way in warm-up, where 2 tubular front tires came unglued from their respective rims! This would be at least the 4th tubular he has rolled this season- all from the batch he glued himself....

Wow, well yesterday VeloNews published their article on Jon's Euro 'cross campaign and today in the VeloNews mailbag readers had this to say.

Today Axel and I went to the coffee shop; Axel wore one of my favorite shirts, the one that says, "My Dad is the Man." A woman commented on it and I said, "It's true, his dad really is the man!" If anyone has any doubts, check out this Velo News article for further proof :)

After 5 years of diligent service and 2 more of semi-retirement, Clif Shot (aka my old mountain bike) has officially retired from mountain biking into a quiet life as a cruiser bike. Clif's career highlights include 2 collegiate national championships, a podium in the Sea Otter Hardtail Downhill, and a trip off a 40 ft cliff (in which he came away unscathed and earned his nickname of Clif Shot). Since 2005, when I purchased my Specialized S-Works FSR, Clif has largely hung around the shed and was occasionally ridden by out-of-town guests such as Dad and my friend Nicole. The official retirement took place last night when I put on new handle-bars, pedals and slick tires, as well as a comfort saddle and a basket. Mr. Shot and I celebrated retirement today with a trip onto U-Hill.