girl and her bike

this is me. and my new bike.
it finally arrived.
and after the cluster that was getting it built - a build that included three trips to the shop (not close by) to pick up parts that should have been included and an amazingly weird manufacturer defect which was a freakish dud of a deraullier hanger;
it's finally built.
and its mine.
this is the first bike that is not a hand me down.
now, don't get me wrong -
i get some pretty sweet hand me downs.
but this one is all mine. and it fits.
i don't have to fight it and its not a tank.
in fact, it's light as heck.
so when i crash, i am not crushed like a bug underneath
and its' lightness is
good for shouldering & running up a hill or some stairs.
i love my new bike. and the super sweet zebra handlebar tape.

mantras and mojo

last nights' training agenda included dismounts, more sand, more tight cornering and for the big finale; shouldering the bike (you hop off your bike and in one lovely fluid motion, place it on your shoulder, so you can run up a set of stairs, a muddy hill, or a yard sale of riders that may have gone down right in front of you). only my motion wasn't so fluid or lovely. and after my first run up the hill while shouldering my bike, one of the team coaches took a moment to explain 'don't do what she did'. what i had done was create a major traffic jam in my pathetic attempt to get bike off my shoulder and remount in one lovely fluid motion.

i didn't have the dismount/remount mojo last night and i was getting pretty frustrated. i was on a too-big-for-me borrowed bike (again). but at least i am moving in the right direction as the borrowed bike was a cross bike and not a tank of a mountain bike. now, while i may not have had the dismount mojo going for me, i had another kind: the passing of people on the cross course mojo. i actually passed people. and people, i am telling you this is unprecedented. especially when i tell you the circumstances under which the passing occurred.

i passed people in a turn. a tight turn that they took too wide (which is my usual m.o.) and i went on the inside and passed them and was over the moon and then i passed more people every now and then going into the sand pit. don't slow down at the sand pit people, just pedal pedal pedal. well, actually - if you are a woman in a race with me - go ahead and slow down at the sand pit, cause now i know i can pass you.

i'm totally digging the team cross practices. there is coaching at every corner. literally. coaches stand at every corner of the crazy tight ziggyzag thing they have us doing through trees and sand and yell: don't touch the brakes! get in the drops! next time do it faster! don't touch the brakes! higher gear through the sand! and if we really suck, they'll call us over for a little chit chat. i got two chit chats. one was bigger gear in the sand. the other was actually to get off the drops in the turns, cause the bike was too big and i was fighting with it.

most of the things they yell jive with the mantras i am saying over and over in my head: lean the bike, keep body upright / pedal pedal pedal / dont touch the brakes dont touch the brakes dont touch the brakes / look where you want to go look where you want to go / get off the brakes! get off the brakes! / dont stop pedaling dont stop pedaling / pick a groove and pedal pedal pedal.

the cool part is its' not even just the 'official' coaches who help out. we started our first warm up lap and instead of my usual, comfortable spot dead last in line, i was towards the front - and was so worried that in mere moments the entire team behind me would just blow by & leave me in the dust (literally - i could not believe the dust that was flying around) that i said outloud to the new teammate behind me: team passes me in 3, 2, 1 ... (really, a very defeatist attitude). he says, "get on his wheel". i swear, it didn't even occur to me. i think getting on someones' wheel is only something you do on the road; but sure enough - i got on the guys' wheel and was able to stay with the pack (a bit) longer. i still totally eat this team stuff up. i love that everyone offers up advice and tips on how to go about everything in this strange new world.

the other mantra i found myself chanting was i can't wait for my cross bike i can't wait for my cross bike. cause i'm pretty sure that being on my own bike is going to make for some very good mojo.

the towels too?

the marathon mobile which has now been dubbed the team bus which is usually parked at my husband's office is now parked in front of our house. not because we are going away to any bike race or camping trip, and not because we are having the white trash trailer park party i am dying to have; but because it got broken into.

twice.
in one day.

my husband went to work yesterday and did his usual looksy-over the airstream only to find the door a little bit open. someone had tried to pry the radio out of the dash, they pried the little dvd players off the wall in the back bedroom and made a general mess of things. it didn't look like anything was actually missing though - so my husband went into the office, called the police & filed a report. and then, cause he was at work, he worked.

only while he was working, someone went back to give it another go. they broke in (again) gathered up all the things they had pried off the wall, dumped all the kids shoes out of a little milk crate that is at the front door and piled their loot into the crate. they didn't take the crate though, they just left it, all nice & neatly packed by the front door. perhaps they were going to take it with them on a third break in.

i went out to the airstream this morning to look for something and i saw the crate full of dvd players, some of the kids' videos (maybe you can get a lot of money for shark tales and night at the museum, what do i know?) some tools, and most curiously; the brand new towels i had bought in preparation for cyclocross races. (i've been getting the bus ready to serve as team headquarters at 'cross races this fall - towels are good things to have: they can be a nice mat for muddy feet, a cover for white couches and can wipe off muddy racers).

i look in the crate to see that the nice fluffy new towels were about to be stolen and i'm thinking.

dood. really? you were gonna take the towels too?

lay off the americano

for the past week we have had infuriatingly intermittent internet and its driving me to distraction and the drink. i wonder what we ever did before internet and i see what a habit checking my email has become when i wake up and head to the computer before i realize that we are offline - its like when the lights go out in a storm but you still flip a switch to turn a light on. so during our outage, i've taken to blogging and working from the coffee shop and no, my girl crush is not here today. but i have been here so long that i feel i have to justify taking up this space by drinking. large americanos to be exact.

so i'm trying to catch up on emails and i'm trying to work on a website and keep an eye on a forum post that got out of hand and figure out cowbell and water bottle orders and cafe press shops for team off-the-bike apparel and i'm reading blogs and writing them and i'm instant messaging my husband ranting about this and that mostly about the fact that we dont have internet and its taking too long for the photos to load on website and i come here to work and can't send emails and he tells me the the airstream (a.k.a team bus) got broken into and thats another whole series of instant message rants then he tells me to lay off the americano. i think he's onto something.

sign of things to come?

my daughter was invited to go to the state fair last friday with a friend and her family. given the choice between kids cross with her parents, sister and brother or the state fair; she pretty much jumped at the chance to go to the fair with a friend. um. kids cross? done that. state fair? with a friend? that's a once a year gig. she quickly changed (apparently the outfit for kids cross and state fair are different) - mostly it required the removal of 'cross boots and the addition of a hello kitty purse. and we waited for her pick up. and we waited. and waited. i knew it was going to be a late night when the family got held up a bit and didn't arrive to pick her up until 8:30 - which is basically her bedtime. but its a once a year thing, this was a big treat. so off she went, happy as a little clam. the mom said they'd be back in a couple of hours. ok so that's 10:30 - i factor in parking and figure we won't see her till 11. that's pretty late. but i'm going with the whole itsonceayearanditsabigtreat thing.

but by 10:30 i am exhausted and head to bed. i figure dad can wait up for her. but dad fell asleep on the couch and was woken up by family's phone call at 11:30 that they were wrapping things up and headed home. apparently my fair-weary little girl walked in the door at midnight (only i heard about it the next morning when i ask my husband what time she came home) and all i can think about is what will it be like in a few years when we fall asleep holding a phone in our hands waiting for her to come home from dates or nights out with friends. and i think we have a ways to go before we worry about that cause she's only 8; and i think we might stick to kids 'cross on friday nights for a while.