For Sale

Wanna buy a house in Bend? On my ride in this morning I passed 8 houses for sale. Dang....that's a lot. Bring your money.


These people are slumming it at $1,850,000



I'm road riding after work..up to Mt. Bachelor. Should be a pretty ride.

Cruiser Day!

Sometimes I mix-up the bikes I’m commuting on. The last two days have been on my DEAN since I went mountain biking straight from work. I thought today I would take my cruiser. So, in honor of BAH

7 Speed, Giant Simple 7



This cruiser comes with a story though. When I was all into the 100 mile races, I raced and won the Epic 100 National Championship and this was one of my prizes. Tinker won it for the guys, and he autographed it for me! SWEET!!!



This isn't your ordinary cruiser. It doesn't just see boardwalks and sidewalks, it's an XTREME cruiser! It has a couple spots of duct tape on it. hehehe I remember one was from Thanksgiving when I rode it to some friends house for dinner. There was a little jump ramp set up and the crusier told me she wanted to take it, so we did. Only, the chain guard snapped in half when I hit the ramp.

How cool would it be to commute on one of these classics? Sure, you can’t pedal them, but they have style!

1948 Going Ape


1950 VESPA

This week is Commute Options Week here in Bend. Basically, do what you can to get off the road. It's no biggie for me because I usually ride my bike every day anyway, but it's good to see people coming out of the woodwork.

I headed out for today's ride with really no plan. I just rode to the trails and picked a way. I'm not the best photograper, I basically just point and shoot. Here's the section I was talking about the other day...they made a little bridge across a regularly mucky section of my commute. Look way at the end of the rocks and you can see it. Good on em.



There are so many thiings to take pictures of, so many pretty forest scenes, views of mountains, rivers, lakes, deer, rocks, flowers...but anyone can do that, that's easy. Instead, I bring you this.

I call it "Big Pile O'Sticks". Hmmm, here's a stick. I'll put it on the ground here. Wow, here's another, let's put it by the other one...



After pedaling through a couple hours of trees, I got a grumbling in my tummy and decided to head home. As I was hucking off a couple rocks on my way back to the road, I got a flat. It really just seemed like it was getting low, so I tried to pump it back up and get it to reseal. Stan's wasn't having any of that. So I pulled over in a little golf course community, sat down on the soft grass, and went about changing the flat.



Now, this is a true test of community. As I sat there, strippiing the rim tape and installing a tube, a little old couple pulled up. "Do you need help honey?" asked the old man. I smiled and cheerfully told them I had it under control. The old lady was worried though, "You can tell us, don't be ashamed. We'll give you a ride somewhere if you need, dear." hahahah they were so nice! Soon after they pulled over, I had another guy in a truck pull up to see if I needed help, a group of 4 roadies, and one mountain biker. That almost made me happy to get a flat!

Oh, heads up, don't forget Fathers Day is Sunday.

I carbo loaded at the brewery Saturday night so I was good to go again Sunday. My first ever pair of official baggies came in the mail Saturday so I had to test them out.



Besides them being longer than I'd like, they are really very comfortable, even after a lot of saddle time. I had a bazillion errands to run around town and they worked great. I didn't even look like too big a goof at the library as I browsed for books on Italy. We want to take a short day trip when we are in Chamonix. Looks like Aosta, Italy will be the closest.

The river is almost ready for floating now, it just needs to get about 10 degrees hotter out before the floating armada starts. Can't Wait! We took the doggies down to swim yesterday evening. They have really rough lives here in Bend.

Out of Towners

Friday night ended up being a better ride than the morning one. It was warm and relatively "nice" out (not raining). I rode from work out to the Phil's complex and lost myself in singletrack. I ended up running into a group of people down from Washington and setup a ride for today. You know, mountain bikers are just cool people.

Saturday morning I stuffed my camelback with food and clothes and headed out for a loooooong ride with the WA group. We rode for a good 5 hours and hit a lot of my favorite trails here in Bend. I had a great day and it was perfect riding weather. I forgot I even had a camera with me until almost the end of the ride so I didn't capture much, sorry.

Mrazek is a tight twisty tree lined trail that keeps you honest, looks like she wasn't.




No snow!



Bob pushed me to descend Mrazek faster than I think I ever have, but I refused to follow him on this. I don't know why I was so chicken of that today.




If butterflies are free to fly, why do they fly away, leavin' me to carry on and wonder why? (Great, do I have to pay royalites are something now?)



They were a great group of riders, that are clearly game for death marches...love it!

Let's just say that today doesn't look like this



After a beautiful evening for riding, I woke up to the sound of rain this morning. It was a pretty constant pattering and my dogs refused to go outside so I knew it was bad. Oh well, I can't let that stop me. So I dug out my rain gear, suited up, and mountain biked to work. I was alone for my commute except for 1 lady who was walking her dog. The trails were empty! Down along the river I hit a couple patches of mud and was worried about the one section of trail where they have built a series of little bridges and ladders to circumvent the mud pits. Even in summer when it hasn't rained for weeks, there is mud there. It's a mystery. Anyway, I was surprized to see a brand new section of bridge that had been installed. SWEET!

Fridays are reason to celebrate, and I feel like I did this morning with a great ride in.

Have a good one.

More Cycling History

FLASHBACK!

Let's make this a really quick summary so we can get back into the present. So my second year of racing I moved up to Expert but continued to win. I won the CA State Series again, and did some more 24 hour team races.

Just can't get enough of that mud. Riiiiiight.





We won Hurkey Creek two years in a row. I'm in the middle in the yellow jersey and jean shorts.






After winning everything in expert, I applied for, and got my Professional license!!!!!!!! I was scared to death. This was the big leagues now. It was so cool to be called up by name to the startline at the NORBA Nationals and to stand next to the same women I had looked up to for the last few years! I switched sponsors to DEAN



I didn't do so well in those big races the first year...I was mid pack. Then the second year I broke into the top 15, and was doing great. I even won the CA State Series as a Pro! Knee problems, and then surgery promptly ended all this fun.

Last night was the monthly meeting for the Executive Committee for the Bend Bella Cyclists. I try to maintain the website for the group...with little to no knowledge of websites. hahahhaa We're in the process of figuring out this year's sponsors. It's hard asking people for money and getting sponsors...just like it was in racing. I think people should just give us money.

As I'm writing this there is an insane bird pecking at the window in our guest bathroom trying to get in and it's driving me crazy! He's trying to get in the vent. Apparently the cover came off and now there is a nest in there.



Pretty bird, pretty bird



Back to bikes though. I realize I never really finished my history so tomorrow I'll jump back in time and try to get that up to speed. It really helps define who I am, or at least helps people understand where I've been. For now, I'll leave you with a random parting shot.




Have a good day!

I've overextended myself again and have a weird sick feeling. I really need to come up with a better schedule now that I'm not racing and training. My normal week involves commuting by bike to and from work, riding to and from the gym, swimming, or going for a ride at lunch, and then riding or swimming after work as well. High up in my chest, almost where my voicebox is, I feel pressure and it hurts to breathe. Great. Anyhow, I'm taking it easy with no workout today.

My whole life isn't riding, we re-mulched our entire yard this past weekend. Derek claims he measured our yard and ordered accordingly...10 yards. Well, here is what we have left after laying it about 5-6" thick everywhere we needed it.



hahahaha - what the hell are we going to do with all that?

Memorial Day Weekend 2006

I'm tired of the history, here is a little bit of present.

Friends we met from racing, Jason and Laura, were in town for the weekend and when in Bend...ride. So, after a night of drinking and telling stories, we led them on a big cross country loop. They might be downhillers, but they can ride cross country bikes like champs! I think we were out for something like 4 hours and the weather went from iffy to great. We encountered a handful of blow downs along the end of the trail, but other than that, great conditions!

Jason on COD



Laura wasn't happy with all our climbing, but she did great!


This part made her happier.


Smiles are contagious


Derek and I practically sprinted the remaining 4 miles home just to beat this nasty cloud that moved in. I busted ass all the way up the hill and figured we had JUST made it, but it never rained!!!!!!!

Cycling History

There used to be an annual gathering in SoCal and I went to my first one...SD72. We camped up in the mts outside San Diego and rode for three days. Day 2 as we were SCREAMING down Noble Canyon on a flat smooth section of singletrack, out of nowhere, I crashed. I yelled as I went down and all I know is I was lying on my right side with my camelback hooked around the valve stem of my front tire, and the bike on top of me. I hurt bad, really bad, but was only 1/3 way down the mountain so I got up and rode it off. I was pretty sure it was just a bruised hip. Monday I went to the Dr and had xrays on my hip...it was fractured. I was devastated as the Dr told me that it would take 6-8 weeks to heal. The Brian Head Epic 100 was 2 weeks away. I thought long and hard the next few days about what to do. What could I do? I'd put hundreds of hours into my, "Death Marches". My friends Bonnie, Randy, Jen, Andi, Mark, and my husband Derek had all been helping me ride the long miles. Derek and I had done a trial the week before...a 50 mile loop in 90 degree weather with who knows how many thousand feet of climbing.

So I raced. I doubted my choice as I got there because I couldn't even walk up the steps to registration comfortably. The race went as could be expected...I took more advil than I should have (somewhere in the teens), got a bloody nose for miles 82-85, spent at least half an hour at the third aid station...they actually told me to leave because I was there too long. The only good thing, is it hurt worse to walk than it did to ride, so I rode almost everything.

Here I am approaching the last aid station.


And here is my medal for winning. I look thrilled, don't I?



This race was cursed for me. First this hip problem, then the next year I would come down with a death like illness that left me screaming, puking, snotty, and crying. I never raced it again.

My Cycling History

My first year in Sport was a blast. Most of my races were at Snow Summit in Big Bear, CA. I continued to win and have fun. I got my first sponsor that year and was racing for Mission Cyclery, a local bike shop back in San Diego.


The best part of racing was the social aspect. I met a ton of great people that I still visit, vacation with, and talk to today. I got the chance to ride in places I ordinarily might not.

Me riding the loop after Cocktail Rock on San Juan.




50 YR Trail in Tucson









Orange County Mts.



At this point I was still just riding for fun without any real idea how to properly train for racing. I saw a flyer for the Brian Head Epic 100 race and decided I'd try that. So, living out in east county San Diego, and working downtown, I started commuting by bike to work. It took me 1:15 each way for the 24 mile ride. I would lock my bike downstairs in the parking garage, take a shower and be at my desk each morning by 8. I have some great stories and memories of those commutes. San Diego is a very beautiful place to ride a bike. Something about the smells and sights of early morning just fascinate me. It's the old lady out watering her flowers in Allied Gardens that would wave to me as I spun by, the oniony smell of the bagel shop in Hillcrest, the game of timing myself up Bachman Hill and just knowing that I could maybe take a second off, crusing through Balboa Park and seeing the beautiful flowers and buidings...it was everything. The ride home was always more aggressive. hehehehe Getting 48 miles a day AT LEAST, was helping me do what they call "base miles". On top of this, I would do two high intensity rides each week, and pack on long miles on the weekends. I was on my way to the Brian Head Epic 100!

Here I go, here I go, here I go...everyone else has one, why not me? I post a lot of my adventures on http://ridemonkey.com but those eventually get purged and I'm left with nothing. So, I'm going to attempt to record some stuff here.

I'm going to do this in steps. Unfortunately, I don't have too many early pictures of me riding so it's going to be mostly words. Half my riding life is gone. I started just after college. I would run in the early morning when no one was around but animals, I'd run late at night after studying, when I could just be alone, I'd run in the heat of the day..100 degree sun beating down on me as I ascended Cowles Mtn. I was heavy into running, ran almost every day. I ran until my knee wouldn't cooperate, swelled up, and was too painful to walk on. Doctors told me I should quit running and take up cycling because, "it's good for your knees". I don't dispute that, but after all those years of running, my knees would never be the same.

After about a year of riding as a weekend warrior, I took up racing. I'd always had the sense I was fast because I could easily keep up with others. And, I've always been pretty competitive. I played basketball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and ran track as a kid. So, I entered my first race as a beginner. Boy was that a mistake...I won by 17 minutes and promplty moved up to Sport. My second race was a team 24 Hour race and we got second!
Two tastes of the podium left me wanting for more. It was great to get out there and struggle, put yourself up against your own expectations and see what happened. It was a test of legs, a test of skills, a test of endurance, but most of all...a test of heart. Racing led me to great places...more later.