Craaaaiiiiig!!!

my vageen is falling off.

not possible I am sure but also, possible - I am sure.
all of this bike riding was fine and dandy... before the steep hills every single weekend. nowadays, she is always pissed. luckily, I found this website that tells me nothing I already did not know. but it at least reassured me that my vageen is not the only one falling off one's body.

bored of cycle news? resume reading after 4 cycle photos.

Mt. Hamilton was blessed with my friends and sweat and tears this past weekend... again.
this was the first time that, as I headed up I realized WAIT - how many times have I done this mountain now? I have lost track. maybe it is because I am elderly but maaaaaybe, it is because I am elderly.*

it was turning out to be a miserable-hot day. you know - the kind that amplifies the cicadas? I dislike that sort of hot. 4 people were in my group that day, plus one friend in high-tops on a mountain bike with a kick-stand that started earlier (his bad-assery is both obvious and exponential). but only 3 out of our 5 made it to the top. the heat was a major enemy. mile after mile I passed strangers that had pulled over in to the shade. every time I asked if he/she was okay, I would get an indiscernible YES-nod followed by a "keep on going" hand signal.

not a comfortable way to leave someone.

about 2 miles from the top, I passed a man laying in the shade, back against a tree, nearly stripped of all biking gear in an attempt to cool off his bald salty head. he asked me to tell his friend Craig at the top that he was not going to make it.

that is one way to motivate me to get there I suppose.

upon arrival, we took our first official tour of the Lick Observatory (yes, I found Craig first). coincidentally, the Observatory was celebrating its 125th year. we learned several interesting factoids like, James Lick's body is buried underneath the Observatory (um...?), Mr. Lick had a very large... beard, the floor takes approximately 2 minutes to raise to the level of the telescope allowing you to see through it, the 'desk' controlling the telescope looks like something out of Star Trek, and the walls are original and not finished.

happy anniversary Lick Observatory! thank you for giving me (and thousands of others) an amazing prize every time I reach the top of Mt. Hamilton Rd.

in other news...
...why aren't YOU killing the bugs? said me to Romeo
...O_O said Romeo to me
...*see what I did there?

stay high all my life

when was the last time you did something for the first time?

for me - yesterday.

the stupid side of me thought it would be a good idea to publicize the thought of cycling 3 major Bay Area mountains in 3 days - because making that public would force me to oblige to the task.

for once, the stupid side of me was right. I obliged.

what I have to show for it are tan lines (or should I say, burn lines) and a butt rash.
the smart me should have made sure I applied sunscreen EVERYWHERE on myself but instead, I only ensured other people did.

*you are welcome other people.

Friday? Mt. Diablo!

as it turned out, no fellow cyclists of mine could meet up - which is typically all I need to stay home and eat chips and nutella all day while watching Family Guy reruns. but dammit, my challenge was made public. I had to go.

adding to that... I had an emergency phone call with a dear friend of mine and, after hearing that her pup had very unexpectedly passed away the night before... the outdoors beckoned. our hearts are saddened and I felt and continue to feel so terrible. her Aston was the same age as my Romeo and I knew if I stayed home I would stay sad: chip in one hand, Romeo in the other. so I kiss/hugged him goodbye and swore to punch Diablo in the nuts for Aston.

the road up was fairly easy. no deviations; complications; challenges. just up and up. it was great to ride it the day before Amgen as I saw everyone preparing for the big day. teams cleaned the roads, fixed holes, setup signs - serious business. the very top of the mountain was closed due to tent setups but I enjoyed a wonderful view nonetheless. then very quickly made my exit to prepare for the following day.

Mt. Tamalpais!

remember that shindig you planned that went anything but smooth? someone's car was towed; the cops visited; the mattress got stuck on the roof. well, I had planned this group trek up Mt. Tam and worried myself to shits that nothing would go right. I am not familiar with city navigating and somehow I had gotten 9 people to RSVP YES to my nervous plan. thank goodness for nice strangers.

several of the people I had never met had cycled this route dozens of times and they completely saved me and stepped up to help and lead the group. *whew.

I played sweeper and ensured no one was left behind. after a couple of unsure turns, we curved our way up to the top and enjoyed one of the best views I have ever earned. the route itself was not one of my favorites... but the view was AMAZING. ..and kudos to the tall impromptu leader in yellow! thanks Jeremy : D

now back down, around and on to Mt. Hamilton!

seriously, THREE straight days of mountains? what the hell. I threw my biking gear on before I had a chance to think about it. wearing clean shorts with no underwear is a commitment - my vageen has TOUCHED the material... can't back down now!

at least I had a few things going my way for this one. a friend was joining me and this concrete has met my tires 4 times before this day so, I knew what to expect.

we got a bit of a late start - a HOT start. there was a goat standing on top of a dog agility course ladder off in a field. so - you know - that was fun to talk about for several familiar miles. I sang my new addiction aloud which was a nice replacement of my last one.

after resting in the shade of our first stop, my vageenal area felt like it did not want to be felt. the road was extra bumpy today - in a very horrible way. seeing a small rattlesnake on my side of the road made me forget all about that though. in a survival of the fittest, my womanhood was not going to get in my way. so I screamed and nearly crashed in to my friend. (seemed like the best option at the time)

when I got hot and grumpy, I reminded myself:

Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right.

and 6 days prior, I thought I could. that alone was enough to get me to the top.

after screaming (again) and barely avoiding a fat snake on the way down the mountain, guess what movie I need to watch for the 8th time?

in other news...

...are you kidding? how could there be more news than climbing 12,500ft and getting a heart-shaped rash on me bum?

...ok but really, listen.

this termite walked in to a bar...

31. thirty 1. dirty one.
that is how old I am. for the past year now (or 5) I cannot seem to remember this. must be my age.
and thank you, cashier at Aqui's, for not just checking my ID when I ordered a large Industrial Strength Margarita with no salt... but telling me "I thought you were 22. Good for you!".
now I am going to be even more confused.

assuming your employer isn't racist, how was your 3 day MLK weekend?

Saturday my trusty Marin road bike took me up Mt. Hamilton in San Jose... as expected, second time was better than the first (that's what she said?). a fearlessly energetic buddy of mine that I met through Team in Training - Josie - joined me for the trek. we are both signed up to do the Death Ride in July so this is the start of kicking ourselves in the asses.
http://app.strava.com/activities/38038783

since obtaining some new winter gear (sponsored by Aunt Rosie and Mom Maria), I was really excited to hit the road... and it was FABULOUS. the weather was extremely brisk and tights / windbreaker appropriate. patches of snow lazily melted on shady sides of the road and bits of ice added the treacherous.

this time, I remembered to walk through the Lick Observatory (barefoot at that) and grab a Coca-Cola while resting at the top. it was a good day.

Monday I was dehydrated... ahem *Industrial Strength Margarita... but forced myself to bike again - this time up Calaveras Rd. and Sierra Rd.
http://app.strava.com/activities/38284899

first impression? not cool. my legs and liver were certainly not prepared for it. nonetheless, I got up it alright... with some minor whining to my other cycling buddy (who did NOT ride Mt. Hamilton 2 days prior thank-you-very-much).

the homes were puffing out chimney smoke and were GORGEOUS... the landscape was green... the cows had threatening curvy horns... and cars (as well as bikers) were sparse. again, a good day.

in other news...
...thanks to this new Menstrual Calendar app I downloaded on my phone, I realize why I am so damn angry at this moment
...my life is now entirely different
...tell me a joke QUICK. humor is easy to breathe for

went up with shorts, came down with pants

sometimes thinking of the impossibility, drives it to be possible.
last weekend I planned a bike gang trip up Mt. Hamilton. it was so good to see my friends and meet the new people that came along.

after we gathered, hello'ed, and threw down some energy, we started up the mountain. immediately, I am alone and last - it's okay. this is a normal thing and I have memorized a lot of songs for this exact moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukNOaKeUEQY

as I sing to myself, I wonder if all the wine I drank yesterday at a party is going to bring me to an early unexpected halt. how can I plan something like this with a big group of people, and then QUIT? I am an irresponsible adult that has candy for breakfast... when I even eat breakfast.
I can't quit.
that settles that: I can't quit.
I look up to see 2 of my buddies butts and realize, maybe I should be happy I'm last. let's go!

I catch up to everyone at our first rest stop. we happily chat our heart rates lower and have some snacks.

once we start up again, I am hanging with the new friends. our paces are pretty close and I decide to keep the company to help the time pass. I find out this trek is the first time up Mt. Hamilton for most of us - the few that have done it already, did it years ago. we exchange riding experiences and my anxiety and worries completely disappear. I am moving in to an apartment in a couple of weeks, and I couldn't care less about it at this moment.
not worrying feels good.

we can finally see Lick Observatory... trust me, it's there somewhere. my friends continually take pee breaks left and right leaving me jealous and full-bladdered. damn you female anatomy!

thanks to the additional buddies, replacing flats goes by quick. as you can see, I'm pretty helpful behind the camera. and I took photos of all 3 flat tires my crew got. useful is me!

the road seems to get more narrow the higher we ride, and that makes me a little paranoid when cars pass around blind corners. this is the first time I've seen cars not only yield to bikers but also rely on them to to communicate when the corner is clear of other cars for them to pass.
the hardest part of this ride was trying to enjoy the view while moving... you have to stop.

at this point, we can see the Observatory pretty clearly. while the guys were excited about it, I couldn't mentally get over how much HIGHER the Observatory was than us. it was close, but obviously included lots of climbing. I remembered my ride around Lake Tahoe months ago - it was so hot, direct sun, without any teammates, hard-steep switchbacks, and no map. surely this cannot be as difficult.
we turned a corner and could hear our friends yelling at us from the top. they had already finished, snapping photos of us, and were sipping mimosas. jerks! just kidding - they only sell Coca-Cola at the top. jerks!

the second to last road before the Observatory was all in the shade - which meant the recent bit of snowfall had not melted yet. it was exciting to see the snow going uphill... it was a different story heading down though.

once we got to the top and reconnected with the whole group, people immediately laid on the ground in stretching positions. this mountain is an 18 mile long climb of 3700 feet and allows for 2 one mile downhill breaks during the climb. suffice it to say, we were pretty ecstatic to be at the top.

http://app.strava.com/activities/27577395

heading downhill was NOT as much of a roller coaster thrill as I suspected. I LOVE downhills! the longer, the steeper, the BETTER. but not only was this a very winding and long downhill, it. was. COLD.
the faster I rode, the faster my temperature dropped. my poor decision in clothing didn't help - long socks doesn't cure everything. we stopped frequently to thaw our fingers in the sun. we were shaking so hard from the cold, that our bikes shook with us.

eventually, I had to tell my friends that I was eyeing the trucks going down looking for room in the back for my bike. I couldn't take it anymore. so, one of my nice new friends gave me his pants. that's right. his pants. normally I would want nothing to do with a stranger's sweaty spandex pantalones but, we were talking about a life or death situation here (not really).
I quickly put them on and felt TREMENDOUSLY BETTER. the bottom of the mountain came quickly after (thank goodness). we packed up our stuff and headed to Starbucks in clackity cleats, stinky spandex, and helmet hair.

I don't care what you think about me, give me a Grande Chai Tea Latte with Soy please.

Lick Observatory should hand out lollipops

missing things sucks.

and I don't mean the kind of missing like "Oh I missed the Sons of Anarchy last night - don't talk about it!" I mean the kind of missing that is more of a "man, I miss pigging out on Saturday nights after an 80 mile super hilly bicycle ride and then falling sound asleep by 9pm".

kidding.

I mean, I DO miss that and all my crazy cyclist friends that I would see at 8am when I am super grumpy and hungry but... I know what's really important... (grandmas, nieces, players' autographs etc.)

I ran in to a cyclist friend of mine outside Whole Foods the other day - his girlfriend is also a wonderful beautiful cyclist pal of mine - and after hugging him I immediately delved in to the Bay Area hills and what I am tackling next and what I just did and what race is he doing next and how is Jean doing after getting her wisdom teeth pulled and I am constipated and Mark is crazy and how long will it take me to go up Mt. Hamilton?

that's good.

by the time we were done happily blabbering at each other, my husband looked like me after he talks football statistics to the side of my wine-sipping face for 8 hours straight: uninterested and admiring homeless people.

next weekend I am sleep-driving to the bottom of Mt. Hamilton in San Jose while sipping the greatest Bean & Body (coffee and energy) drink from a can, and slowly rotating thighs and tires up 18 miles to Lick Observatory. it will be the longest constant incline I attempt - with just 2 one mile downhill sections - but not the steepest. so hopefully I'll show it who's the boss (is it Tony? or Angela? I still don't know).

wish me luck.

in other news...

...cholesterol is one thing I am not thankful for any longer.

...downgrading to an apartment after a house - no matter what age - stinks.

...I am sorry you have read this far. here, enjoy this old photo of thin strangers at the top of Mt. Hamilton.