Back!

It has been over a week since I've posted anything! I'm back from vacation with plenty of pics and stories that I'll get posted later. It was weird going back to San Diego and spending Christmas in the warm temps. More later.

WCR

I took an online test today while I was so busy at work. It was called "The Web Coolness Calculator" and here is what my score was:

Your WCR (Web Coolness Rating) is:

0%

Have you thought about being an accountant?


Tricks on them, I AM an accountant!

Cameron

Here he is, one whole week old.

Burnin' Down the House

Well, burnin' down the office is more like it. After my lunchtime ride I took a shower and was going to do my hair when my hairdryer blew out. I turned it on low and nothing happened, so I turned it on high...still nothing. I turned it off and it started up! BUT, only after sputtering and making some engine burning sounds and then having smoke pour out of it! What a sad day.

Here is a bike related Christmas comic I got a chuckle out of.

SHOUT

Thank god for fenders on my mountain bike. Brrraaaaaaaap



The detergent companies should pay me to test their products

Weekend musings

I rode home Friday after work and Derek informed me that my sister had her baby! So I'm an aunt again. Welcome aboard Cameron Jacob! I hope to get a picture of him soon.

Saturday we went skate skiing in COLD temps. It was in the low teens up at the mountain. Brrrrr. I sure wish they would bring back the little fire tub they used to have down by the lower trails. It was nice to stop and thaw my hands out there.



Saturday night was Candy Canetinis, yes, that's right. Rumplemintz, vodka, and a candy cane. We were at a party for a friends' birthday and it was good to see everyone together.

Sunday was even colder at the mountain. 4 degrees supposedly. The snow was wet and slow but fun nevertheless. We added a loop around Rich's Range. It was always intimidating last year because it is VERY rolly and twisty and it was our first year skate skiing.

Hill Intervals anyone?

Candles Like the Old Days

Our power went out this morning at about 6:30. It going out actually woke me up since I'm such a light sleeper. I gathered up the candles, found my cell phone, and called the power company. We have the number already written down by the phone because this isn't the first time in the past week the power has gone off. My neighbors behind me have power, Crap, all their lights are probably why I DON'T have power! I take a shower and get dressed for work, eat my breakfast while reading the paper by candlelight, and get ready to go. I was going to drive today because my car will die if I don't drive it at least once a week and I have errands to do after work anyway. So I go out to the garage and realize the door won't open. I find the step ladder and with flashlight in one hand, pull the handle attached to the rope that is hanging down. It reads "Notice, if door is obstructed pull down on handle to open." So I do this and the handle rips off the cord and I almost lose balance and fall off the ladder. I try pulling the cord a couple more times but by now I'm late and really pissed. So I stomp back inside, get changed into my riding clothes, and ride to work. I just called our house and the power is still off.

Happy Monday.

1+1

I only WISH the equation was that simple. Instead, this is what I worked with =IF(AND($A9="new",$E9<=F$6),($C9*F$4*8+$D9*173.33),IF(NOT($A9="new") ,IF($E9<=F$6,($C9*F$4*8+$D9*173.33)*(1+$D$5),($C9*F$4*8+$D9*173.33)),0))Yes, that right there was the crux of my problem yesterday. I've moved past it and am feeling like a superb conqueror today.

It snowed last night! But, not before raining hard and then freezing. So, the ride this morning to work was great fun. I knew I made a good choice when I got down to Brookswood and the line of cars was at least 50 before reaching the roundabout. Instead of taking the "busy" street, I cut through some backroads to stay away from the crazies. Crossing Wilson I was witness to one lucky driver who couldn't make it over the overpass because he had NO traction in his tires. He gunned it, slid around, then backed down the hill onto a side street before giving it another go as he was treated to honks from people all over. Way to make him feel better people.

I was happy to not have to wait in a line at all. I smiled as I cut down the hillside and across the field of white towards the building.

TGIF!!!

I'll huff and I'll puff

Dang is it windy outside! Apparently gusts are supposed to get up to 100 along the ridgelines of the Cascades tonight. I know better than to take a bike out with the winds around 30-45 right now. Not so funny story...It was in 2002 I think that I was racing mountain bikes out in Fontana, CA. The wind was reportedly 60 miles per hour and rounding one of the corners up on a ridge, I was knocked off my bike by a giant gust. That was the first incident of scraping my elbow up. Anyway...since it was so windy, I decided to go home for lunch and ride my trainer. SO there I am spinning along in front of the television having a good workout, and the power went out. Good lord, the gods are against me riding. I went ahead and finished my workout in silence.

Rollng puke

I've done a crappy job blogging this week, I know. The high winds kept me off my bike one day, and then a gazillion errands after work kept me off it another day. That's ok though because I've been deathly afraid of getting sick and have been resting up. EVERYONE around me is sick! I got a flu shot this year so hopefully I'm covered in that respect. I know my sister reads this so she should love this story...hopefully she remembers it. We grew up, family of 5, in a house with one bathroom. Getting ready in the mornings was a lesson in time management and sharing. I remember one particular day when I had the flu and had to, well, puke. I ran to the bathroom and pounded on the door. My sister replied with something like, "I'm doing my hair." Well, that wasn't good enough for me and I puked on the floor. Our house had hard wood floors and the puke went running right under the door. Boy did that door open fast!

It's raining up at the mountain. Yeah.

Not much new going on. Riding is hit or miss with the showers we had yesterday, this morning was fairly nice out though. I'm hoping to go skiing tomorrow before work, we'll see how I feel. I fear I will be coming down with whatever the rest of Bend has. There are sick people everywhere I turn! I saw in the paper today that there is a group of climbers lost on Mt. Hood that rescuers are trying to find. Oregon Live Report. This winter 2 people have already died in the area and let's hope this group gets down safely.

Is the grass greener on the other side?



No, but I'll tell you, the mud is deeper!

Another weekend down

December is flying by! I was in Webcyclery waxing my skis on Saturday and saw a flyer for the Great Nordeen ski race that is in January. I mentioned before that I would like to either just preski the course, or actually do the race...just to have a goal. That leaves precious few weekends to work up to 36k. With that in mind, I put in some more good time up at the mountain. It snowed the whole time we were up there on Sunday and despite the layer of powder that covered the trails, I felt really good after 1.5 hours out there. I even convinced Derek to tack on an extra little loop down Woody's and up Devecka's to end. I'm evil.

How cool would it be to get a rowing bike? Make sure you scroll down for the moving demo picture. SWEET!

Happy Friday!

We can all give a big sigh of relief...Friday is here at last.

I've been putting in a lot of time on my bike this week since the weather was so nice. It's funny because you just never know when you'll be able to do some quality riding again. When I used to train for my races I'd get bummed when the weather turned nasty because then I couldn't train outdoors easily. Now though, as much as I miss training and racing, it's nice to just shift focus to skate skiing and other winter sports. So when I hear about snow in the forecast I get excited!

Have a good weekend!

Moonlight Ski

Did you ever have one of those snowcone machines when you were little? You know, the kind where you put ice cubes in it and then turn the plastic handle and it would make that grinding sound as it magically turned the cubes into a snowcone? Think back and get that sound in your head....THAT is the sound of night skiing on Tuesday. It snowed all this great snow but now has been warm the last few days and melted down the snow. Then of course, it refreezes at night and makes a big ice sheet. I saw on the calendar it was going to be a full moon though, so we went cross country skiing. It was actually kind of warm that night and the glow from the moon was amazing. We skied for about 9 miles or so and I had a great time. It DOES get a little eerie out there when all you hear is the scraping of your skis against the snow/ice.






Here is Derek crash...I mean testing out his light, yah, that's what he told me he was doing. Yep, it works!

Old and New Trails

My ride to work yesterday morning was a meander and I stopped to take a couple morning pics. Then as I worked away in my cube I saw the temp on my little desktop gauge go up and up. 51 degrees at lunch meant ride time! Suited up in my mud clothes I hit the trails. I wandered around and found a new little trail as well.

Some random shots from todays ride. You have to look closely in some to see the trail. And sorry, they aren't my best shots this time.

Summer is here!

Break out your bikini or swim trunks! It was "warm" and sunny yesterday so I went for a mountain bike ride at lunch along the river trail. In the shaded woody areas there was still packed powder and sections of ice, but dang, it was "warm" out. Today is supposed to be much of the same so I'll probably ride something this afternoon.

Happy Full Moon! I hope the skies stay clear to make moonlight skiing or snowshoeing a success tonight.

Birthday Extravaganza

I awoke to another nice day outside, so after my birthday pancakes we headed up towards the mountain. First up, we snowshoed to the top of Vista Butte to take some pictures. Not being one for following the marked trail, we went straight up the side of the butte. OOOOF! Before long the leg burn was going. We didn't see another soul out there. For the second leg of our adventure we went up to Bachelor to skate ski. I couldn't dream of a nicer day.

Sunny skies

Since the mountain has opened, I think every time I've been up to skate ski it has been snowing and windy. Saturday however, was GLORIOUS! I'm tossing around the idea of skiing the Great Nordeen race in January. Now, I've only been skate skiing for one year and still am not "good" but the race would be fun to just have some sort of goal...36k. I don't intend to be competitive, and it may turn out that I just ski the course on my own the day before, but I'm going to try to get up to that distance. So, Saturday we skied for about 1.5 hours. That may not seem like a long time to those of you who haven't tried skate skiing, but it kicks your ass! I had a great time in the sun. I just love being outdoors.

We went out to dinner Saturday night for my birthday at Zydecos. I absolutely love that place. Nice owners and staff, great food, superb atmosphere. I had the steelhead and loved every bite of it. I highly recommend eating there.