My friend Karen came up with this hilarious joke dialogue. It really illustrates how nerdy we are. In the hope of getting extra nerd points by making this viral...I'm passing it on!
http://3bibis.blogspot.com/2007/04/nerd-alert.html
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tierra Bella 2007 - Ride Report
This year Wes and I signed up to do a metric century bike ride together. That's 100K or about 60 miles. We chose Tierra Bella because it is supposed to be a beautiful course in the south bay, (we actually rode right past my old street in Gilroy!), and this time of year there would be lots of poppies and other wild flowers blooming.
Well we trained up, and were ready to go Saturday morning...other than the total exhaustion we have both had due to the busyness of wedding planning. We got up at 6:30, drove down to Gavilan College, checked in and were ready to ride by about 8:30. We had heard there was a chance of showers, and at that point, it looked like it might drizzle. So we put on our rain jackets and were on our way.
We made it to the first rest stop (10-15 miles into the ride) with mild sprinkles. It actually looked like it might clear up. By the time we got our snacks and left, it had started to rain again. But we stuck it out. Up some hills, down some hills, around the bends of Hecker Pass, round and round the country roads in the rain.
It was incredibly beautiful, hence the name of the ride, but it was also incredibly wet. It was a little difficult to thoroughly enjoy the view considering my glasses were all fogged up and spotted with rain drops. But we continued on. We got to the next rest stop at between 20-30 miles...I lost track by then. We considered riding past it, cause we weren't that hungry or tired, but we thought a break from the rain might be good. When we got off our bikes, we realized more fully the extent of our wetness. I was ready to christen this ride Tierra Mojada (wet) instead of Tierra Bella. Our chamois were soaked (like soggy diapers...yes I know...TMI) and Wes suggested to one of the volunteers that they have big hand driers for all the bikers to hang their butts in front of to dry off. She looked a little shocked by that comment and promptly found an excuse to quit talking to us. We took our exit, and back on the road we went.
Not only did we have wet butts, and everything else, but our shoes were filled with water. We knew we would have very pruney feet by the end of this thing. After the break our muscles felt very cold in the wet weather, so we wished we hadn't stopped the last time. By then the rain was REALLY coming down. Whenever we were in tight quarters, and we had to ride close together, I got a fat spray of dirty water from Wes' back tire. Or the other way around if he was behind me. We had water dripping from our noses, chins, helmets, you name it.
Somewhere in Gilroy, around Christmas Hill Park, I realized that I wasn't seeing the arrows for our route anymore (we were green arrows, the other distances were yellow or red). There were still yellow arrows, so we followed those. But pretty soon we found ourselves back at Gavilan college. We thought maybe the next rest stop was there and then we were supposed to head out for another loop to complete the course. But we ended up in the middle of some motorcycle safety course...they were probably getting some good lessons on riding in the rain!
Once we realized we were going to have to back track to get back on course, then ride another 20 miles...we decided we would cut our losses. We were soaking wet, not too tired, but nevertheless right back at our car...with the choice of whether or not to get warm and fed, or get back out there in the rain. Needless to say we decided that 40 miles in the rain was enough. So we rode over to the finish area, wrung out our bike gloves, and went in to eat some hot burritos and apple pie.
We watched the rain get heavier in through the windows and were happy with our decision. When we got up to leave, there were puddles under our chairs. I nearly slipped and spilled hot coffee all over myself on the way out. It sure is hard to walk in bike shoes on a slippery floor.
Anyway, that was that. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, so there are no photos of this event. But that might be for the best. You'll have to take my word for it.
Well we trained up, and were ready to go Saturday morning...other than the total exhaustion we have both had due to the busyness of wedding planning. We got up at 6:30, drove down to Gavilan College, checked in and were ready to ride by about 8:30. We had heard there was a chance of showers, and at that point, it looked like it might drizzle. So we put on our rain jackets and were on our way.
We made it to the first rest stop (10-15 miles into the ride) with mild sprinkles. It actually looked like it might clear up. By the time we got our snacks and left, it had started to rain again. But we stuck it out. Up some hills, down some hills, around the bends of Hecker Pass, round and round the country roads in the rain.
It was incredibly beautiful, hence the name of the ride, but it was also incredibly wet. It was a little difficult to thoroughly enjoy the view considering my glasses were all fogged up and spotted with rain drops. But we continued on. We got to the next rest stop at between 20-30 miles...I lost track by then. We considered riding past it, cause we weren't that hungry or tired, but we thought a break from the rain might be good. When we got off our bikes, we realized more fully the extent of our wetness. I was ready to christen this ride Tierra Mojada (wet) instead of Tierra Bella. Our chamois were soaked (like soggy diapers...yes I know...TMI) and Wes suggested to one of the volunteers that they have big hand driers for all the bikers to hang their butts in front of to dry off. She looked a little shocked by that comment and promptly found an excuse to quit talking to us. We took our exit, and back on the road we went.
Not only did we have wet butts, and everything else, but our shoes were filled with water. We knew we would have very pruney feet by the end of this thing. After the break our muscles felt very cold in the wet weather, so we wished we hadn't stopped the last time. By then the rain was REALLY coming down. Whenever we were in tight quarters, and we had to ride close together, I got a fat spray of dirty water from Wes' back tire. Or the other way around if he was behind me. We had water dripping from our noses, chins, helmets, you name it.
Somewhere in Gilroy, around Christmas Hill Park, I realized that I wasn't seeing the arrows for our route anymore (we were green arrows, the other distances were yellow or red). There were still yellow arrows, so we followed those. But pretty soon we found ourselves back at Gavilan college. We thought maybe the next rest stop was there and then we were supposed to head out for another loop to complete the course. But we ended up in the middle of some motorcycle safety course...they were probably getting some good lessons on riding in the rain!
Once we realized we were going to have to back track to get back on course, then ride another 20 miles...we decided we would cut our losses. We were soaking wet, not too tired, but nevertheless right back at our car...with the choice of whether or not to get warm and fed, or get back out there in the rain. Needless to say we decided that 40 miles in the rain was enough. So we rode over to the finish area, wrung out our bike gloves, and went in to eat some hot burritos and apple pie.
We watched the rain get heavier in through the windows and were happy with our decision. When we got up to leave, there were puddles under our chairs. I nearly slipped and spilled hot coffee all over myself on the way out. It sure is hard to walk in bike shoes on a slippery floor.
Anyway, that was that. Unfortunately, my camera batteries died, so there are no photos of this event. But that might be for the best. You'll have to take my word for it.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Slacking...
Well I feel like I've been slacking because I haven't been much of a blogger lately, however, the reason I haven't been much of a blogger is because I HAVEN'T been slacking. I've been to Oregon and back for The Castor wedding (so much fun!), and I've been planning my own (how crazy is that?). So here are some snapshots to recap the past few weeks.
The newlyweds Sarah & Matthew:
The boys at the wedding (Andrew, Evan, Cayle, Jeph, & Wes):
The girls...well some of them...unfortunately I didn't get enough group photos (Kristi, Elaine & Bridget):
Evan and Elaine very stoked and showing off their cheesiest excited expressions.
The funniest name for a bike store I've ever seen...which was right next to the condo we rented.
Ducks in love napping by the river in Bend (on a walk after lunch with my parents).
A favorite rest stop on the drive to/from Oregon in Weed, CA (The Hi Lo Cafe):
Some beautiful flowers with fresh rain water on them...which I took at a vista point near lake Shasta.
And last but not least....a sneak peak from the engagement photos Wes and I had taken last weekend.
Stay tuned!
The newlyweds Sarah & Matthew:
The boys at the wedding (Andrew, Evan, Cayle, Jeph, & Wes):
The girls...well some of them...unfortunately I didn't get enough group photos (Kristi, Elaine & Bridget):
Evan and Elaine very stoked and showing off their cheesiest excited expressions.
The funniest name for a bike store I've ever seen...which was right next to the condo we rented.
Ducks in love napping by the river in Bend (on a walk after lunch with my parents).
A favorite rest stop on the drive to/from Oregon in Weed, CA (The Hi Lo Cafe):
Some beautiful flowers with fresh rain water on them...which I took at a vista point near lake Shasta.
And last but not least....a sneak peak from the engagement photos Wes and I had taken last weekend.
Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)