Bike #6

Today I did my first cyclocross race.  It was a humbling experience.  I got 20th in the women's cat 4 field out of about 35 riders.  The fields are so big here!  I borrowed my teammate's Jake the Snake, picked it up at 5 PM yesterday, threw a seat and pedals on it, and rode it for about 20 minutes.  Need I say: unprepared?

I am definitely lacking in the technical skill department.  I passed a ton of people on the flat sections, but I had some trouble in the other parts.  I can do flying mounts without any trouble on flat ground when I'm not tired.  But add in a run up, some hurdles, and fatigue, and I mess them up.  It was the same case for triathlons. No problem in practice, but when you are dizzy and fumbling around after swimming a mile, it's a lot more difficult.

I got better as the race went on.  I had some trouble with my mount after the run up.  There was a tricky descent after it, which didn't help.  Here are some pictures.  Did I mention that I finally joined a team?  Team Starbucks.  They are all so nice and helpful!  They make it so easy to race.  What kind of people lend their extra cross bikes to a dumb roadie like me?

I should also mention that there were 180 people on the course during our race!

Also, I just bought my 6th bike.  A Yeti cross bike with Rival components, an easton fork and a chris king headset for only $2000.  So pretty!  I know, I know, I have way too many bikes, but I use them all (2 road, 1 track, 1 mtn, 1 cx).  I would get rid of my Litespeed, but now I have to put fenders on it so I can use it as my rain bike (they are strict about that around here).  I might sell my TT bike, though.  I don't even have that with me in Seattle. . 

Interbike

I am at the Vegas airport, on my way back to Seattle.

Interbike was very cool.  The first two days were the outdoor demo, which is in the desert.  It was 95 degrees and really, really dusty.  We did camera demos, which went fairly well.  Now I have to send everyone their footage.  We couldn't do DVDs on site because of the dust and the lack of power.

Today I went to the indoor showcase.  It was really cool.  I got tons of stickers and swag.  I also got pictures of some things, such as the P4.  That was particularly noteworthy because I took the picture before I realized what it was.  In other news, apparently Chris King makes bottom brackets now.  I also talked to all of our competition who had booths.  They weren't happy to see me.

Bicycle paint jobs are not what they used to be.  All the Colnagos were plain. :(  I did get to play with the electronic dura-ace, though.

I don't like Vegas.  It is hot, dirty, and makes me feel like I need to exercise.  I will be happy to return to the Seattle rain.  Never thought I would say that. :)

Coffin Box

Yesterday, at work, I purchased a coffin box.

60x19x23 is apparently the standard size of a coffin box.  They only cost $17.80!  I also drove 30 minutes outside the city to pick it up.

This is my job.

In other news, interbike interbike interbike interbike!  I leave Sunday, and I leveraged myself into a day of the showcase. :)

So nice!

Ahhh, so nice!  The weather is still perfect.

I've gotten a decent amount of riding in this week.  4 days in a row.  That might be a record since I've moved here.  Yesterday, I went to the Starbucks meet the team ride.  I am having trouble picking a team to join.  There are so many!  I really like the Starbucks team.  All the people are really nice, and it seems like more of a community, which I like.  My only concern is that there aren't many cat 1/2/3s for road (only 1 now, a few on the verge of upgrading), and I don't like racing by myself.  They have a few 1/2/3s for track, though.  They are also a slightly older demographic.  It will be hard to find a team as young as my lovely Michigan team, though. ;-)

I've basically narrowed down my search to 2 teams.  Hopefully I can make a decision in about a week.  Today I went for a nice 30 mile ride.  I went north and kind of guessed since I didn't plan a route.  It ended up being really pretty.  I am so lucky we have the Sound and the Olympic Mountains.  Otherwise, I would have been very, very lost.  I found some really nice roads, though.

Erin is coming back tomorrow.  He got sent home early because he didn't have anything to do.  We have been talking a bit, and it seems like things could work with some changes.  We'll see how it goes.  There is still hope.  

Work is busy.  Interbike is next week, and we don't have much planned.  I'm pretty nervous about it.  They also gave me a lot more responsibility, which I find kind of funny.  Everyone always asks me if they are stepping on my toes.  What toes?  I don't have any marketing toes.  I don't know if I wrote this, but I also finally got a real job with a real salary!  They are clever.  Once they realized how much overtime I was working (60 hours last month), they put me on salary.  I don't mind, though.  I work hard regardless of how I am paid.  Plus, I'm making a lot more, and I have stock options.  Can't complain.

Freakin Sweet!

My parents are visiting this weekend because my dad has a periodontal academy meeting.  

On Friday, we went to the Space Needle, on the monorail, and ate by the pier.  We also saw Tropic Thunder, which was a bit disappointing.  I'd never been to the space needle before.  It was disorienting.

On Saturday, we took a sea plane to San Juan Island.  The plane ride was so pretty!  It was pretty cool to be on a sea plane, too.  The landing was a little scary.  Once we got to San Juan, we rode rental bikes to this park where there are supposed to be whales.  Then we rode back.  The whole ride was really nice. We flew back, and I showed my parents around Queen Anne, Ballard, and we ate at the Matador.  The weather has been perfect lately; 70 and sunny.  They got very lucky.

Today we just walked around and didn't do too much.  I am really tired.

Tomorrow, at work, I have to make 20 t-shirts that say "HR Nightmare" on them for a company outing.  haha.  It's nice to do productive things while I'm at work.

World's Biggest Dork

This weekend, I went to Mt. Hood, OR for a small event at Windell's camp.  

It's a freeride, snowboard, ski, and skateboard camp.  Pretty cool!  They had a lot of jumps, skate ramps, and even an indoor foam pit.  I also met the Hayes Brakes rep, which would be great if I mountain biked.

Basically, all these things are boiling down to one solution:  I need to start mountain biking.  The freeride scene is so much more laid back.  The only problem is that I am deathly afraid, and I don't know if I can get over it.   Now, I have to start preparing for Interbike!  I know, my job is just not fun at all.  I also played on a giant pogo stick.  

On the way back, I took a detour and went over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  I thought it was the coolest thing ever.  No one else seemed to share my feelings, though.  There was no historical site or anything.  I spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get on it by foot, but I was unsuccessful.  Oh, what a failed engineering project.  

Westbound was much cooler.  There were big grates in the bridge so you couldn't switch lanes.

As soon as I got on to the other side, it started pouring.  Good ol' Olympic Peninsula.  

Eastbound is newer.  Not as cool.

Luckily, the bridge didn't resonate and collapse when I was on it.

Mt. Hood was gorgeous.  But it was hard to get pictures.  It was also really cold.  It snowed on the mountain on Saturday night, and it was around 35 at the bottom.