NMBS#1

Thanks to everyone who wished me luck this weekend. It was a fun weekend, even though I didn't perform as well as I should have and, for some reason, couldn't stay on my bike during the races. On the first lap I hit my head so hard I thought I was out of the race. I was pretty sure (based on previous experience) that if I had a concussion I would be the last one to know about it, and if I did recognise that I had one then I wouldn't have the short term memory to remember. So, it was probably best to just keep going. I recovered pretty quickly but crashed again on the second lap and ran off the course a few more times. I was getting cheers like "nice flowers", "a little blood never hurt anyone" and "nothing better than a girl covered in dirt". That made me smile (see picture, a weed on my back, no blood yet). When I finally chilled out on the downhills I started doing a bit better and began passing on the climbs. I placed 21st which is great considering my poor execution. Short Track didn't go well at all, my legs never came around and I crashed again. I never even looked at the results, I was dropping like a rock towards the end and I don't want to know how close to dead last I ended up. I'll try again next week, hopefully this was a good kickstart. I had fun hanging out with my new team, all of whom did really well. It should be a great week as we all get ready for Arizona next weekend (NMBS#2). My younger brother Mikah (a Marine) leaves for Iraq tomorrow, he'll be there for ~7months.

Getting ready for NMBS#1

NMBS#1 is less than a week away.

I liked San Dimas. The picture is of Glendora Mountain road, a very nice road ride that starts from town and goes up into the mountains. Very few cars or motorcycles on the weekdays and a great grade. The only problem is the smog, it can get bad. One day I was riding in dense blue smog and there were not any other cyclists out, they must treat the really bad days like rain days.

We are now staying in Riverside, this is not a place I would recommend. It does seem that the city is putting money into improvements, which is good. But the crime rate is high and I wouldn't say I feel safe. The historic downtown area was nice, Todd and I had a great patio lunch before he left town. But two days later the same area was full of police cars parked every which way with police running around with shotguns while people ran the opposite direction.

I drove to another part of town to get groceries and the supermarket had an interior fence. The only way in and out was through a turnstile, you pushed your cart through one gate and walked around to the turnstile to walk in. I guess this system forces everyone to leave via checkout counters only. I checked out then set off the alarm system on the way out; I am still not sure what I did. Then I searched the Internet for a place to get a massage, I found all sorts of places that offered "discreet" entrances and good looking Asian girls. I thought "why do I need a discreet entrance?"

I pre-rode the Fontana course yesterday. Locals told me to park across the street at the shopping center as it was safer than parking at the park. I was happy to meet two other cyclists at the shopping center, safety in numbers...

For a more positive review of the area, check out Todd's blog (if he ever updates it), he seems to have found some things he liked.

No Flats! Racing in CA

We started with the Pro and Semi-Pro men.

California has been full of good finds. Before heading out here a local guy, Joshua, responded to my MTBR post and gave me all the info I needed, RV spot, local shop, trails, safe road routes, etc. The first day in town I ran into some friendly roadies from SC Velo/Incycle and downhillers from Incycle/Cannondale, more good info and they verified that Incycle was the shop to hit. Incyle is a big store that has everything, I broke my seatpost and they had a great selection to choose from. They really support the local racers. I even had a few fans at the race, some of the Incycle crew cheering for me, that was really nice. If in San Dimas, CA see LaLa at Incycle Bicycles.

A Girl's tools

The tools required (in addition to allen wrenches): cheater bar and hammer (rubber mallet to be nice to your bike). In this case I was just changing pedals.

Racing with the Guys

Another AZ race, raced 19-39 Expert men. Had a great 35 minutes or so, then another flat tire! I was so fed up with flats that after I fixed it (and watched almost all the expert guys pass me in the process) I finished out the lap and called it a day.