Getting Dirty

Due to all the riding I did last week (not really, but it sounds good), I blew out the bottom bracket on the Merlin. Coincidentally, S's IF needed to go in for an overhaul. So this morning we found ourselves without road bikes but still wanted to head out for a ride. After hauling out all the trash and recycling (and there's lots of that because apparently one of my other sabbatical activities is basement cleaning), we grabbed the cross bikes and headed for the trails.

Two things: 1) S's "cross bike" isn't really one. While it is a Redline frame, it's been built up to be a commuter bike with a Ultegra triple, straight bars and mountain brakes/shift levers. Also, it has 700x32 smooth tires. This makes it awesome for commuting but not so great for trails. 2) the trails weren't their usual dry dirt paths. They were mud bogs.

We headed up Mass Ave and jumped on the Battle Road Trail on the other side of 128. The Battle Road was perfectly fine except for a few sand pits. It wasn't until we hit the unnamed trail in Concord Center that the fun started. At the first mud pit, I almost got so sucked in that I couldn't clip out and almost went over. The tires churned, my legs burned, mud was thrown everywhere. I made it through. Happiness! Turned around to watch S and saw her to do the super slo-mo-tip-over-sideways into the mud pit. Ew. Not so happy. Apparently, some bad-ass branch grabbed her back wheel. Bastard!

We continued on until we hit the next mud pit. Again, I made it through and fortunately this time so did S. Which is a very good thing because at this point, I was getting flack about the whole ride being a secret ploy to buy mountain bikes.

After getting a bit lost, we finally found our way back to trails we knew and 20 miles later made it back to the center of town where we stopped for some morning coffee at Peet's. I went in to grab the goods while S dripped mud outside. Came back outside to find her peeling slugs off her legs. Honest. I'm really hoping they weren't leaches because that would be just too nasty.

Ride of the day

Nemo's Birthday!

I'll use any excuse to eat a cupcake (specifically chocolate cake with vanilla icing).

Today is the MINI's birthday. The ultimate summer car. The go-cart on crack. My mid-life crisis. Does it count as a mid-life crisis if it was given to you as a birthday present? Probably. Especially since I kept threatening to just go out and buy one. And S was very tired of hearing me go on and on and on and on.... about the thing. Yes, I'm spoiled. Yes, I get presents I really don't deserve. But, damn, that's just one very, very, very fun car to drive. Just wait until it gets its rally numbers! More super - less size. Put a little un in your orthodox. Every red light is a new beginning. Take a new turn. Let's Motor!

Training is NOT Overrated

On a whim Wednesday evening, I entered myself in a bike race. Now, spring here in Beantown hasn't really been conducive to riding, at least not for a foul-weather wuss like me. In my defense, I have been traveling somewhat for work but really, that's no excuse.

But I digress. A few details about the race. It was a road race and for my division (Cat 4 Women) one lap of a 23 mile circuit that had 1300 feet of climbing. Now that's really not so bad. It actually should make the race interesting given that it was fairly rolling with maybe only two good climbs. But when one hasn't been training all winter and others have been (see, I really did have no excuse) one gets smoked in the hills.

The race had a controlled downhill start. And for the first 4 miles or so, I was feeling good! (Uh oh...bad things happen when I "feel good!". Boston Marathon 1989, for example.) I was sitting about 3 or so back, center of a pack of 25 riders. The course at this point was flat and the pack was rolling along around 20 mph or so. I was happy! I was like Lance! I was surrounded by my 6 other teammates! And suddenly, some lame-o who wasn't on my team was leaning into my shoulder and bars. Fortunately, we held it together and didn't go down (which most likely would have taken 3/4 of the pack down with us.)

After that near fiasco, we hit the first hill around 7 miles. It was a two mile climb. I held my position for the first mile and then it felt like someone hooked a ball and chain to my seat post. I was summarily swallowed up by the pack and then excreted out the back. Yes, it was that ugly. Ugh.

The next 15 miles are nothing to write home about. I thought I was dead last. Did I mention the head wind? Constant and strong enough to blow me around on the bike. I rode head down, cursing my stupidity for entering a race I had no business being in and thinking about S finishing Putney (70 mile road race) in tears as they closed down the finish line. The least I could do was finish. Stop whining. At least I'm not like 90% of America laying on the couch devouring junk food. Ick. It was grey, 45, hilly and windy but at least it wasn't raining.

Turns out I was wrong about being last. A teammate came up from behind. We hung together for the rest of the race and ended up passing two other riders. So we finished. It wasn't pretty but it was done. First race of 2006 cycling season for me is in the books. And it's pretty obvious I need to do some training. Duh. But that's what summer sabbaticals are for.

Wah!!!!!!!

There was only one reason I left Seattle (well, two - the road biking was horrible if you lived in the city). But really the main reason, was the oppressive grey skies, constant mist in the air and the fact that even on the best summer day, I never felt warm. This also meant I had to put fenders (and a courtesy flap - who the hell had ever even heard the term courtesy flap! - because even fenders couldn't stop the stream of rain) on my beloved Merlin. That's just sick and wrong. Anyway, I hated the drizzle, sprinkles, rain, showers, mist, and the hundred other words used by the weather guys to describe the constant state of dreariness. I even came to despise hearing the terms "sun break" and "areas of brightness". Ick.

Today here in Boston it's raining for the 5th straight day and you can see the current forecast above. I'm not happy. I'm headed to the gym now to ride a bike indoors that goes nowhere. That's also sick and wrong. Yes, I could go ride outside but right now the weather has made me cranky which in turn makes me a outside-riding wuss.

If this is any indication of what my sabbatical weather is going to be like I may need to go with my original plan and learn to surf in Maui.

Decisions, Decions....

Everyday at work we're faced with crucial, serious, big-league decisions: implement this feature or that one, add more resources or slip the date, take the risk of shipping with this bug or fix it, latte or double shot of espresso.... on and on and on...

Today, I'm faced with a crucial, serious and big-league decision that could make or break my sabbatical: this swimsuit or this one? Or both? Since I figured that this would be my official sabbatical uniform, I wanted it to be just right. I found two that I like. Ordered them online from Athleta (one of my favorite places to shop along with Title 9 Sports). They both fit great, feel like they'd stay on while getting trashed by the worst wave, and I just plain like them. So now the dilemma: which one? Or forget that they cost way too much for little pieces of sewn-together fabric and just keep them both?

If these are the kind of decisions I'm going to be faced with this summer, bring it on!

Kickin' Off The Blog

6 weeks! Only 6 weeks left!

It occurred to me while dealing with yet another management mini-crisis that I only have 6 weeks left until my sabbatical. That's right - a sabbatical that starts on June 26th and goes through Labor Day weekend. I haven't had a summer off since probably freshman year in high school - as in 29 years ago. OMG!

My employer is very generous. As a reward for surviving five years of work, we're given three weeks to do with as we please. I've chosen to combine it with 6 weeks of saved PTO for a total of nine weeks. DELICIOUS!

Many of my co-workers go off and do wonderfully amazing and rewarding things. Travel the south Pacific, wander through Europe, or some other incredibly wonderful activity. I have one central goal which sounds quite pale in comparison - get ready for this one - I simply want to wear out a pair of flip-flops. (And I already have them picked out as you can see in the picture. A wonderful pair of Chacos - yellow with orange daisies! Happiness!)

Now, of course, I will be doing fun stuff in order to wear out those puppies. First and foremost, I'll be learning to sail. I'm taking two week-long classes (Intro to Sailing and Advanced Sailing) at the Boston Sailing Center. Along with a one time class at night sailing. I'm already signed up and can't wait to start.

Then there's the cycling part. I want to REALLY enjoy racing 'cross this fall season. And in order to do that, I need to do lots of riding. So I'll be spending lots of time on my bikes. Another favorite activity. Not sure how I'll put any wear and tear on the flip-flops doing that. I guess I can always drag them behind the bike. ;-)

Besides those two activities, I plan on working out, reading, sleeping on the beach and just plain enjoying life.

And how does a Catholic girl like me overcome the guilt associated with being a beach bum? Well, I guess there's this blog. I can justify my time off if I chronicle it, right? And then when I get back to work, I can relive the experience and get psyched for the next sabbatical.