UT to WA

Southwest is the only way to fly with bikes these days at $50 a pop each way. Some of the airlines are at $175 each way for the bike only if you can even believe it. Shocking.

I found the answer to the question everyone has been wondering about though:
Do you beep going through the metal detectors now? NOPE.

But hey, what can you say, my friend walked on with a pocket knife. Nice.

So I got to my parents house and it was pretty heart wrenching that my dad didn't recognize me at all. He got up from his nap, looked at me, came down the stairs and walked right past me. Very upsetting but I knew the day was coming which of course doesn't make this kind of situation any more bearable. I cried and sobbed while trying to tell my dad how much I miss him. Do you know how weird it is to be looking at someone with them looking back at you while you are telling them that you miss them, miss their voice, miss hearing their ideas, miss sharing, miss laughing together. It is the strangest of circumstances. My dad only responded by patting my arm - he is a stroke victim. He is physically able but has lost any communication skills. He lives in his head and I miss him more than someone who is already gone.

After I bucked up as my parents used to say, I got the bikes unpacked and built with no problems....or...uh....er....well...I kind of did cuz I apparently busted one of my front brakes by trying to cram my bikes in the bag last night. My fault. Whoops.



So I took it to the bike shop that I used to go to as a kid to buy pads and stickers for my BMX bike. Crazy how much hasn't changed in 25 years!


They got er up and running no probs and I went and rode the Fort Steilacoom course. I wasn't the only one with that grand idea as there were tons of crossers out there checking it out too and simulating the course as best as we all could (it isn't set up yet). The sunset from there was crazy cool.




Got home and found my mom inspired to ride. Legs in the air doing the bicycle.


I ended the day on a good laugh after that one! Good on her!

Minor Details & a Grasshopper Explosion

I went out today for a training ride on CX bike and discovered that my hand is too weak to shift my bike into the front big ring. Oh crumb. That isn't so good when you are leaving for a bike race tomorrow. Oh well. It is what it is and I guess I will be spinning 150 rpms out there instead in my cyclocross race this weekend! Too dang funny. Geez. Minor oversight.....but really.....would it have changed anything for me if I had known the dirty truth? No, probably not. Especially since my family lives no more than a 10 minute RIDE from each cyclocross venue on Saturday and Sunday. So either way I was going to head to the races I guess - shifting or not.

So, with this being the case, I marched straight into my Hand Therapists office and told her what I CAN'T do and so I got a new toy out of it! Putty that we call "the blob". It is to help strengthen those tendons and muscles again so that I can shift! Ah yes the details of being a pro cyclist - shifting is a real good thing.....



Oh and total grasshopper explosion today. Yes, you read that right. I have never had anything like this happen. So I am flying down an 8% slope and buddy green flies right at my front wheel and completely gets chopped in my spinning wheel. Got yellow nasty guts ALL OVER ME, my bike, MY BOTTLES- ooooh sick!, my jersey, my bare legs.

I thought I was going to barf. It was soooo gross.

Next up was packing my bikes for the trip in my brand new cyclocross case. And I am going to admit that it took me about 3 hours to do it. The things are adjustable in the case and I didn't realize that until I got it all settled. SOOOO I had to take everything out and adjust it and then repack again. And thank god, Barb Howe was on call for moral support. I called her while I was very frustrated and not sure that it all was REALLY going to fit into the bike bag. As it turns out it did, but cramming was in order for sure as Barb suggested - CRAM and JAM!





What a long day and now a flight home tomorrow.

US Cup Proposal

Check it out here if you haven't already.

Cyclocross Clinic

Yesterday as I was heading down to Salt Lake for our Cyclocross Clinic that Ali, Bart and I were putting on, I saw these hot air balloons. That is one sure sign that fall is coming when its cold enough to launch these suckers!


It was a big day in a lot of ways for me. We put on this clinic for those interested in learning cross and for those who are already interested in cross and want to learn more and hone in their skills. We had a great day almost doubling the amount of people in attendance from last year too. There was a nice group of about 30 of us running around like goobers with our bikes.

Here Ali took some time off from instructing to show us some of the more used skills in cross. I mean yeah....you should always bunny hop a barrier if possible right? :)


Break time! Thanks for the much needed shade Mona Vie!


Ali instructing one of the groups on braking skills


Another group practicing barriers


It wasn't exactly cross weather but we sure ran and jumped like it was!


Bart pours water and completely soaks an off camber tight corner in order to go over cornering drills.


Ali with wife and 2 week old Ethan


And for the grand finally of the clinic we got all the different groups together and practiced race starts. It is always rewarding to see everyone doing so awesome after one fun day of learning! And to think some of these guys and gals were cross never evers at the beginning of the day and there they were going over the barriers and corning like pros!!! It is going to be a fun and great season for these guys! They have a great head start now too.


So today was the BIG TEST for my wrist and hand too. My Hand Surgeon, Hand Therapist, and coach among many others are and were all waiting to hear how it went because you just don't know until you try it. It could have been great or it could have been a disaster because it was THE FIRST time I tried to use my wrist and hand without any restriction or holding back. I just let it all go as I tried the barriers, then some shouldering and I was able to do everything from lifting the bike, dismounting, remounting, etc. and had NO problem-os. My wrist nor my hand even gave me a twinge nor a jab. Nothing! Notta! Zilch! And quite honestly I was expecting some twinges or something at least but got a whole lotta nothing instead. Actually, you know what I got instead? I got sore toes! What the?? I think I ran more yesterday in that clinic than I will run all season combined in cross races.

So guess what all this means!!!!?!

Yep, I am back and I am racing again...........um......yeah...well...I couldn't resist.....soooooo......I am racing cyclocross this weekend in WA! I am packing my bags immediately and heading north! I cannot tell you just how good it is going to feel to line up again!

Hand Therapy Continues

My hand is looking better but is still quite lumpy if I do say so myself. The scars are still very there and just for fun I added a new one on my ring finger last week. I got a second degree burn on that finger from oil splattering all over it when making stir fry. Nice. At least its still numb in the exact spot I burned it on (from the surgery) so it hasn't hurt a wink as its bubbled up and scabbed over.

Is that the third thing that can and will go wrong with this particular part of my body? I hope so because I have had enough: 1st - broken thumb, May 08, 2nd - broken metacarpals, July 08, 3rd - burns, Sept 08. Good lord enough is enough already! Dare I say I better start being careful but I want to live my life and careful isn't really part of what I do (sorry mom, not much has changed with all this has it - lol).


Next up today was seeing my Hand Therapist. She measured the degrees that my hand and fingers were bending and was impressed with the numbers I was pulling. I apparently made good progress while on the road doing therapy on my own.

She was also able to dig out one of the last stitches that was stuck in my hand. It was annoying having it stuck in there and wasn't helping the progress of therapy because it was too tender to work near that area. But now its gone and that is great; but really all that means is that she can start reaming that area of my hand now too. Oh joy. Maybe I should have left it in???

I met a guy today in hand therapy who was getting a splint made after taking a 1500 foot fall on K2 in the Himalayas. A splint is all this guy needs? WOW with a big W and a big O and another big W. He was more than lucky you could say. Read about his rescue here. Amazing. He was having his splint made so the he could still rock and ice climb too if possible. It was great. He just wants to get back out there and do what he loves and I could feel every last bit of his pain of having restrictions put on that.

Oh, and I got to play a new game in hand therapy too. Now its "pick the peg up with the big tweezer thing and place the peg in the hole." Awesome.........

Set Free

We finally left Santa Barbara on Tuesday and since we are high rollers in Nevada (not!!!) they practically paid us to stay in the hotels there (yes, really). They were hurting for hotel guests I guess and Primm, NV was a good halfway point on our drive back home. Just prove that we were really high rollers, I think I spent a whole 25 cents on gambling that night.

We did do a fair share amount of shopping the next day though which was a great way to end an awesome vacation. We then took our time on the rest of the way home (aka - I drove) and saw some great scenery on the AZ and UT border.









The next day was one nutty day just getting our lives in order again after being gone. This was also the big day that I was going to get my "yey or nay" on racing this month by my Hand Surgeon. And....................

He took x-rays of my hand, checked out the range of motion (or lack thereof) of my hand and then sat back in his chair, looked at me and said the words that I have waited over 2 months to hear:

"I am going to go ahead and let you do what you want, no restrictions."

I was in complete disbelief. I have been just so used to handing over the reins to every one else to make decisions about how I am going to live my life. I have been so used to going with the flow and listening to everyone else choose my path for me and make my plans for me. And to then hear that I have been set free to make my own decisions about my own life? Wow. Me in charge of me? Quite the concept to grasp again. This news did come as a total shock although I knew that the day was coming soon. So now I am officially in charge of my own life again!! It is almost like being set free from my own personal jail!

So the real down and dirty on my hand as the doc sees it is that I have healed really well, really fast and have come beyond far in less than 2 months out of surgery (remember that one doctor I saw told me I would be out 12 weeks!). While not TOTALLY and COMPLETELY healed (that will take many more months for the bone to knit itself to 100%) the bones are where they need to be at the moment and he sees no need to hold me back until late fall for that 1-2% of bone to heal up. Yes!

At this point I am supposed to use pain and soreness as my guide for riding, racing, yoga, pilates and whatever. If it hurts - back off and if it doesn't - go for it! But I can do whatever I want whether is Cyclocross or mountain biking. Yay!!!!

But it could go either way.......... I could jump on my cyclocross bike and be just fine with pain and soreness or it could be bad and I may decide I will need more time. I will just have to see and experiment and figure it out for myself which is what he needs me to do at this point. I will happily take that challenge on! Yey Yey Yey yey!!!!! Ra Ra Ra!!!

Clime - en

Good lord I love this place called Santa Barbara! So much riding to do - so little time. I was down on this road looking up at the top of those mountains thinking that was looking like a mighty fine way for me to fill in a day on the bike. And it was.

The Pain(ted) Cave road pitches up really quickly from the one major intersection.

And it was worth it.

Ahhhhh. Shade!

Looking down towards the ocean over the road I came up in the way distance.


On the way back down after climbing 3400 feet in what seemed like a flash because it was so fun, I ran into what the Gap Fires left in July. Not much left on the top of these mountains. Luckily after being evacuated from their house, our friends house was left untouched. What a scary time!

AVP Beach Volleyball Tour

Quick description:

crazy
hot
human sardines
sweaty
loud

The place was packed






So much so that we had to sit in the aisle with about 50 others that didn't have a seat. We were mashed up against some sweating dude with no shirt on and had a fair amount of feet up our rear too.


But we didn't mind cuz it was still tons of fun.


The views were awesome.




The wind was howling (thank god cuz it was hot!)


Camera crews were there.


People were dancing.


And the Olympic Gold medal boyz played a great game putting us on the edge of our seat... or whatever seat we had.


Phill Dahlhaus/Todd Rogers made it to the final and were up against Brad Keenan/John Hyden for the overall win.


Keenan/Davis got the first game. Check out the volleyball.


Dahlhaus/Rogers took the second game.


Then the "Beijing Beast started having his feast" as the announcer kept saying.


And after several game points the Beijing Beast and Rogers took the win!


Then the girls played. Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh lost in the semi final for only the 3rd time since 2003 and did not advance to the final today. Too much Olympic gold weighing them down I guess which doesn't sound so bad really!! So it was Boss/Ross against Jordan/Davis.


It is nice to see these guys and gals making some cash!


It was a very sunny, sandy and sweaty day when it was all said and done. I would do it again in a second!

Santa B

We are still in the Santa Barbara and are having a great time. Between the four of us we are cycling, kite boarding, surfing, running and wind surfing - we are being major beach bums and are going to the beach daily. We are certainly enjoying every last bit of what (was to be) my off season has to offer and it has been great!

Had some breakfast near the beach in Santa Barbara too today with Kristin.

And for tomorrow I spotted on the other side of the fence just exactly what I want to do to round out the beach experience.

The AVP Beach Volleyball Tournament is here with the guys and gals that got gold in Beijing (Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh and Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rogers). I have never been to something like that and it sounds like fun!