Deaths and Crashing...

Wow, how's that for a catchy title? Time is short since we are swamped at work right now, but, I am compelled to share (and possibly provide WARNING!) about recent events involving me and my bike. The following is true and graphic. Viewer discretion is advised...

So I've only ridden my bike twice this week other than the infamous crash fest captured by Bri the new found talent in video-ography, and each time I am sad to say, I may have cut short the life of a small four legged creature. Tuesday nights road bike ride was going well as I pedaled along the bike trail at a comfortable 18mph, when OUT OF NO WHERE a squirrel darted in front of me! Good thing I always hold on tight, because those fat little suckers can put a hitch in your giddy up! In a split second I wondered:
A. Will I crash now?
B. Will I slice the poor little guy in half?
C. HOW in the heck did he get screwed into hitting BOTH my front and REAR wheel!?

He scurried off pretty quickly, so perhaps my instinctual "bunny (squirrel?) - hop" maybe relieved some of the crushing force. Or perhaps he didn't want to look like a sissy in front of his squirrel buddies that I have observed seem to make a habit out of darting in front of unsuspecting cyclists on the bike path. Well, I hope they remember the Screaming Red Rocket of Doom!!! No more darting in front of me please. Hopefully, the little guy just has a bad limp...

THEN, last night on the MTB, after avoiding SEVERAL trail obstacles, I finally couldn't figure out which way this HUGE lizard was going to zig-zag and try as I may (even inducing another "lizard-hop") I think I may have run over this one, too! Sheesh! 2 days, 2 incidents!

BUT THAT's NOT THE WORST PART...

I am VERY worried that this trend will persist. My next ride occurring Saturday morning at the race. Hmmm, if I were a beginner, I would be VERY scared to see the 'ol #712 warming up on the course!!! Consider yourself warned!

Lastly, I know we all got a real good kick out my no-talent-clown maneuver on Monday. I thought it would be enjoyable for ME to now laugh at others expense...and there was certainly no shortage from the last CCCX race! A few of my personal favorites...

I think Superman had his landings a bit more dialed in than this...


Taken from the comedy "dude where's my car" we now have "dude, where's my bike!?"

This is how it starts...

This is how it ends...Boy can I relate!

That's all for now folks. Happy racing, riding and watching out for the tread pattern of the #712 coming across your unsuspecting face...

Georgia Gould

Okay, so I don't want to go all Georgia Gould on you but I have to put a picture of my latest dish up!! I decided to make fried rice and beef broccoli for dinner last night. It turned out so good that Brian said we can never go out for Chinese food again. Can you believe it? It was very good and needless to say, there was only a tiny bit left over because Brian ate most of it. :)
That is all for now. Thanks for visiting!! :) xoxo

Silly Me!!

Usually Brian writes the posts, but every now and again I feel the need to post some random stuff. So I was sitting on the couch browsing the free section of Craigslist and I saw a post for free wood. Knowing that Brian has been wanting to build some obstacles before we get the pump track built so I told him about it. He called the guy and an hour later he delivered a whole trailer full of wood to us.

Brian then decided to build his obstacles and then he decided to try and ride his obstacles. I told him that he better not get hurt or I would kill him!! After the first crash I was out!! He couldn't start with baby steps, he had to build the big "tough guy" obstacles!

WHAT WAS I THINKING??

I should finish this off by saying, Brian now has ice on his wrist!!!!!!!!!

No Pics Yet...

I was hoping by tonight some photos from Saturday's latest race would be up. Not quite yet. However, if you check out the results page, you can get a small look at some of the carnage and devastation caused by about 200yards of steep, fast, slick downhill met by a 90 degree left hand turn and a large berm. Preeeetttty interesting!

As for me, since there were no photo's I finally succumbed to that little lizard, gecko thing...or maybe you are more familiar with the eyes on top of the money? Well, I played the "15 minutes could save you 15 bucks or more" and holy crap were they right! I saved about $450 on my homeowners!!! I'll take that sponsorship! Thanks Geico! Tomorrow night, I calculate the auto and see if I can save even more...or post some SWEET BIKING PHOTOS!

Since I don't have any bike photo's a sweet MOTO shot will have to suffice! YES!

CCCX #7 Race ReCap

With hot temperatures predicted many were having Sea Otter flash backs with nightmares of the heat robbing our precious power, energy, and most importantly (for me!!!) cramp prohibiting electrolytes. Normally, Bri has been warming up with knee and arm warmers…sometimes even a jacket – not this morning! She was ready to go in her standard Joselyn’s short sleeve jersey and shorts. She was especially anxious since she was going to start with the boys due to a lack of other women racers.

As the gun went off, the girl didn’t hesitate and got right into the mix. Nice! When she came around to the first feed zone, she was battling for position like I’ve never seen! Each feed spot she was working farther into the pack and making great strides – easily the best I have ever seen her race! She pushed the pace hard all the way to the finish and certainly won the women’s class but also made a good dent in the mens division as well. Nice job Babe!

Almost equally impressive was Emily Cerna’s finish. Not only did she bust out the full three laps, but she did so despite taking a pretty nasty spill that required us to make a mid-race repair to her trusty steed! Bruised and battered, but determined to finish she pedaled out to complete her last lap – completing the full 3 laps, exhausted, battered by the course and the heat. Nice work Emily, you gave me some extra inspiration today!

For the afternoon race, things really started to heat up to the point where Steve Kelley was circulating the course with a 200+ HR (eat your heart out Lance!!!). Wisely, he decided to pull off and let the others battle it out. But, the course was unrelenting. Brett found out that he prefers the cush of his Scott Spark to the edge of his Chameleon. Wild William Clevenger gave me some prudent advice “Brian…I’m dead. You need to REALLY drink A LOT of water!” Judging by the look of him post race, I decided to head his warning!

By 1pm, the temps were high, but fortunately, the familiar coastal wind had begun to stir and we were all hopeful that it would provide the reprieve we would need to cool down as the competition would surely heat up! The race started a bit faster than I thought it might with Aaron Bradford pushing the pace right from the get go. Greg Heinz put his sweet Giant XTC into the stalking position while the rest of the pack followed into the single track rank and file. My view from the back was pretty good and I methodically picked my way through in time to see Aaron and Greg stretching their lead.

Then at the end of the first lap (on the steep downhill) pretty much all hell broke loose. Aaron was off the trail, having suffered an untimely mechanical. Then the pack caught up with Greg who had evidently spotted a crisp $100 bill located waaaay off the trail, and deep in the poison oak…he thought he could easily stop and get it, but unfortunately it was well guarded with a surprise that resulted in an unfortunate crash.

The next lap was a parade of easily 7 riders with Greg leading the way. When we got to another sweet downhill, I just had to lead in order to hit the sweet double jump half way down (I’m such a sucker for fun!). After that point the group splintered up a bit and ended up being myself, a single speeder and another hard tail rider. We all cruised along until the single speed rider fell just a tad off the pace leaving two of us.

I was wondering where everyone had gone, and also worried, that we might suffer a late race charge from the back, but with the heat it was hard to up the pace too much. I just tried to focus and think that Travis rides in hotter temps than this all the time at Coe! Fortunately, my dead-reliable pit crew had plenty of water available each lap for me to help keep things flowing. By far, the most exciting part of the race was when Greg’s dad, Ed, blasted me with a crystal geyser bottle of water with force that I didn’t know could be achieved without pneumatic assistance! I mean, the blast of water nearly knocked me off my bike! Holy crap! Ok, I’m AWAKE now! From that point on, I figured if I could withstand the fire hose-like spray of water (NEVER has 12oz been SO effective!) then I could certainly make it to the end!

Fortunately, I was able to hold tough and pull down my first victory! Needless, to say, I was (still am!) super pumped! In the end it was ANOTHER strong day for Joselyn’s with Greg hanging tough to make the pro podium. Alex continued his winning ways, putting down a SUPER strong ride on his SUPER light Scott for another well earned victory. Mark followed home rounding out the podium. Jeff Linder put in arguably his best ride yet and earned another strong podium finish as well! A solid day indeed!

Travis and Nathan came out to do battle, while reigning women’s expert threat Smurfette, headed down south for a special road ride. I think everyone that rode on Saturday can definitely agree that win, loose, or draw, it was a beautiful day to be riding your bike! – In fact it was SO nice out that Mr. 24 Hours himself just couldn’t get enough riding and was last spotted riding off into the sunset on his trusty Specialized road bike and familiar +3 Network jersey! Jeff you are an inspiration!!!

I captured this sneaky shot of Bri taking a picture of herself...she just loves to see pictures of herself! Those beginner riders can be so vain! :)

SC MTB TT -- Finally!!!

While, I know you have all been absolutely on the edge of your seat to find out who took the time trial Saturday morning, I must apologize. A recent bout of "yard work fever" had me spending all of my free time hacking away on the back forty until...well I guess my "aggressive" yard work habits might be a bit more than most are accustomed to. What can I say, if it's a dirt bike, a mountain bike or a yard tool, I ride that sucker like I STOLE IT! Unfortunately for the yard, that resulted in a broken shovel, followed by a broken hula-ho (sp??) and then another broken tool that I don't even know what it's called. I then proceeded to use the "handles" of each tool to battle the weeds. that resulted in 3 perfectly good handles turning into 7 shreds of wooden splinters...Ooops! Oh well, the weeds are down and the yard is coming along! Ok, onto REAL FUN!

Pulling into the parking lot in Soquel we were met by Pro Joe, Big Talkin' Brett, and Steve Kelley. That added to our group of me, Bri and Shelly. Looks like the group would be small in size but large on quality! As we rocketed up the hill, 3 things instantly became apparent to me...

1. Steve Kelley is under-rated. The guys rocks!
2. The dirt was still damp in SC. NOT, optimal for speed and TT records.
3. My tires were all wrong for speed. Perfect for traction, but wrong for speed!

As I passed "Sand Point" I was ready for the "steeps" and finish. Well, unfortunately for me, my memory served me incorrectly...again (It has been about a year since I did the climb!). While I thought the finish lurked at the top of the "second steep" it is more like 10 minutes from the top of the "second steep" followed by the aforementioned "steep's" little brother's and sister's who wreak havoc on exhausted legs and gasping lungs! Daaarn iiiitttt!!!!

Fortunately, the top was soon in sight and I gasped one final breath of air across the finish. Ahhh, now the fun begins! Our tribe re-grouped at the top and Steve Kelley (read: Mista Bad Ass!) dropped into Demo' we had to get back to work. Descending some of the best trails in Santa Cruz in absolutely "ALL TIME" (as AC like to say) dirt was truly epic. We could do no wrong. Bri and Shelly were cleaning rocky descents that would have most of my dude friends puckering and looking for the alternate route!

Brett and Dad were shredding single track and although I forgot how many "climbs" there were on the way "down" it went well. I do remember hearing "How many more times do we have to push our bikes uphill, when we are SUPPOSED to be going DOWNHILL!!!" on more than one occasion. Fortunately, I had forgotten, so it wasn't a lie when I kept repeating "Oh, this is FOR SURE THE LAST TIME!"...only to have 4 more equally diabolical little ditty's still waiting! Good times! The final decent into the chilly stream water was the perfect way to end the day and freeze our toes on a brisk Saturday morning ride!

As for the times, they turned out to be good...actually GREAT in some instances. Come out and do the TT, then you earn the right to become privy to the highly anticipated, yet deeply classified information.

Perfect Day...

What's the perfect day for a bike racer?

How about a sweet start where everyone is laughing at the dork with the obnoxious bull horned elephant ears off the ends of his handlebars to lighten the mood...


But soon after things turn serious, and the race face comes in as you work the bike around the course looking for every last bit of energy to squeak out a top finish!

And after working your beee-hind off, the reward of your efforts is crossing the line with some of the style you learned from watching hours of Tour de France videos this past winter while perched upon your trainer...Or maybe you just have a spanky new bike and you like to announce to everyone your unabashed love for her!

If the post ride celebration continues on to the meeting of a cute trophy girl, then all the better!

But, at the end of the day, it's the personal victory that's important. The never ending quest for "better" and few people understand our deranged obsessions more so than our family!

What a great day!

Toro CCCX ReCap

Wow, what a weekend for the Joselyn's Team! I don't know if this was the best the team has done so far in one weekend, but it had to be close! There were so many top finishes that it's hard to remember them all...but let's give it a go shall we?

In the morning race, Bri started things off right with a solid 1st place ride, despite forgetting to remove her arm and knee warmers, she soldiered on (albeit a bit warmer than she would like!) to secure ANOTHER victory! I believe that makes about 4 in the series so far! Wow!

In the afternoon race, Brett had one of his strongest rides to date in the CCCX series with a strong 4th place finish! Steve Kelley and Bill Clevenger both enjoyed top finishes as well with a 3rd and 5th respectively. Nice work!

In the afternoon event the racing was fast and furious! On the front row Aaron Bradford, Greg Heinz and a host of others put the pace to the redline on the first paved incline - OUCH! I could only watch as they rode away! Fortunately, the climb eased up and I was able to make it to the top, but not before being caught by Mark Faulkner who bridged up from the 2nd row!!! That's an attack!

As tough as the climb was each lap, the downhill was worth it! Every lap was a test of how much I could scare myself, nearly crash (Greg witnessed the 'ol Anthem getting a bit sideways more than once!), and then at the bottom to hit the sweet, floater double jump. SO FUN! Not only did we have the bonus of looking forward to the DH (although I am sure some sicko's actually looked forward to the climb...Travis!!!) it was also cool to see Coach Burnham making a special appearance as well! I think that gave everyone a bit more motivation!

In the end, I think it broke down something like this...
Greg took the 3rd pro spot on the podium
Mark's torrid pace put him on top of the class with Alex rounding out the Podium
Shelly proved that the Otter Pop was no fluke as she laid waste to the Toro hill for another well earned victory.
Travis battled mechanical gremlins and came back for another solid ride. Maybe a rigid, single speed with less moving parts is in his future :)

James brought out the whole family and put down what I heard was a good ride with the added motivation!
Jeff Linder brought it home again in typical tough guy fashion.
As for me, well this blind squirrel found another nut and lucked into the top step. Take what you can get is what I always say!

Any wonder why this guy is good? Look at that face!!! That is a RACE FACE!

Still lovin' the elephant ears / bull horns while racin' with Greg.

Toro Pics

Brett ready and waiting for the start. More than 1 person told me he looks like he is getting faster and better. Looks like the hard work is paying off dude!


Hmmm, this seems to be a familiar spot for Bri. She told me she was tired, but apparently enough energy to make one more climb...up to the top step of the podium!

If that isn't a "knowing" smile, then I don't know what is! The only problem, is that I am still trying to figure out what Steve knows that I don't! Oh wait, Bri points out "lots honey..."

Bill on his start all flush with confidence and ready to go! Another solid ride in what is a very competitive class!

Another guy who is used to making the climb to the top! Not just that, but BOTH Jeff and Bri rode to victory on their spiffy new CrankBrother's wheels! Nice! If you don't think those wheels are a thing of beauty then there is something wrong with you!

More race report to come tomorrow...

Pre-Ride!

What a great morning! Ok, Bri might disagree that waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to go pre-ride is maybe not HER idea of the BEST morning, but it sure does the trick for me! I did get her to smile after I gave her MY new Hammer arm warmers that PERFECTLY match our Team Joselyn's kits! Ok, she may have a point that they are the "GIRLS" version, but that NEVER stopped me before! Plus, she looks great in them!

The pre-ride was fun...although I overdressed a bit and went the wrong way, but that's the best way to learn...by making some mistakes right?

The WORST part was that Bri and I ran into some "Moo - Moo's"...for those of you that don't know, Bri and I are BOTH scared of COWS!!! YIKES, THEY ARE SO BIG!!! Luckily we passed without incident!

So the course is sweet! I thought we might be headed up "Poop-Hill" because of the ribbon, but when I got up there, it looks like it will actually be the start gate for the downhill. So, according to my questionable interpretations of the course, I think we will still make the same "left" at the top and come down the "usual" single track decent. At the bottom where we have crossed the cool stream and go over the paved road we actually make a "right" and continue down the single-track to a cool grass-track/scoring section. Then across the road and up the "stairs-single-track".

Pretty much the course is awesome and if you are ANYTHING (and ESPECIALLY WON the Otter Donkey), the we will see you there tomorrow! Happy Friday!

FASHION DEEVA!