Spokey dokey

New Home 2009, #3

2009-06-29T18:23:00.000-07:00

Just returned from my last 4 days in the field for the ENLC, now working at home packing, but thought I'd take a break and put a little update here.

Our most recent travels have taken us through central Utah on I-70 on the way to the Brunson family reunion. It was an incredible drive (see photo below, taken from a roadside viewing area).

We had a great time visiting family in Colorado, especially hanging with nieces and nephews while camping. Here's a shot of us all keying out plants. Toddlers and youngsters have amazing visual acuity and are excellent partners for keying plants.

On our way back to Ely, we spent a couple of days looking for a place to live in Vernal. We finally found a two-bedroom townhouse with no garage (which for us means no easy bicycle storage), but it's within a mile of work and about a block from the community recreation center, which has a climbing wall! While it isn't ideal, it will work until we can find something better, hopefully to BUY. That night we treated ourselves to a cushy state park campsite and were granted this sunset as a reward.

Next post will be from Vernal!

More biking

2009-06-09T13:55:00.001-07:00

Here's some more biking photos for y'all. When we first moved to Ely, it was sunny and 75 degrees every day. The last week has been patchy thunderstorms every afternoon, so we have to get out and ride in the morning so we don't get hailed or lightninged out. Yesterday we got caught in the rain the last 10 minutes of our mountain bike ride, but made it back to the car just in time. Regardless, it was a great ride.

We rode up a twisty trail through sagebrush for a couple miles, then climbed up a steep series of switchbacks that went on and on. I used every gear I had and ended up walking most of the switchbacks as I couldn't really breathe (we were over 8000 feet) and it was steep as hell. The wildflowers at the top were pretty incredible (see Ryan below).

We ate lunch at the top and had a great view before our 5 mile descent, which is better singletrack by far than anything Corvallis has to offer (just not as long).

After packing up our bikes, we went to another nearby, drier state park with charcoal ovens and hiked around taking wildflower photos (see below for what I think is Eriogonum ovalifolium).

Today, we finally gave in and drove our road bikes out to Duck Creek. We rode 10 miles or so on a gradual uphill until the pavement ended, then we turned around and coasted back to the car. Duck Creek is a beautiful valley with almost no traffic, so it's great for road biking but you have to get there first, which I think we'll only do by car for our short time left here. As much as I hate driving to bike, I hate dying even more. Less dying=more biking. That's a good thing.

News, news, and more news

2009-06-07T11:51:00.000-07:00

I'm having a hard time keeping up with the posts, much less our every day lives. It would help if I didn't have a new job every two months to go to.

Here's the latest news, which I'll try to sum up without making it too boring. I'll give you some photos every now and then to keep your interest. I have been working for the ENLC since the end of April. My job with them right now is seasonal, but we had all planned on training me to replace the project manager when he left in the fall, which would have been a more permanent job with benefits, with one major caveat: the ENLC operates on soft money. In fact, the entire non-profit may or may not be funded in any given year. Not exactly job security.

(This is one of our field sites. You can see the field work is pretty awesome.)

When we arrived in Ely in May, several things happened. First, Ryan was offered a job with ENLC as a seasonal, which he gladly accepted. Second, two more permanent jobs with the Feds that I applied for back in February called to interview me. One was a four-year position with the Forest Service in Logan, the other was a permanent job with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Vernal. I was offered both jobs and I accepted the Vernal job. At the same time, the project manager was offered a sweet job in Reno, which he starts in July. So now the ENLC is in a bit of an uproar--both the manager and the person training to replace him (me) are leaving in a month.

I hate leaving the ENLC so soon; I loved what I was doing for them and the job had every thing I was looking for: field work, writing, data analysis, project management. But I can't pass up a permanent job with the feds, especially in Vernal.

(Me eating a snack on what turned out to be a sweet little stretch of road, before we rode back toward Ely and Ryan tumbled into the gravelly road shoulder because the 6" strip of pavement between the rumble strip and shoulder wasn't wide enough. Sheesh. He was okay, but we ended up having to walk our bikes along the highway for a stretch.)

Before Ryan and I moved to Ely, I thought this might be a place where we could think about buying a house and settling for a while. But after living here, even for just a couple months, I can't imagine living here for any length of time. It is impossible to road bike anywhere without fearing for your life. There is only one paved road leaving town that isn't a highway, and it is a 20-mile ride out and back. All the other paved roads are highways with tiny shoulders, rumble strips, and 70-mph speed limits. Not fun. We did find a beautiful 20ish mile long paved road up in a mountain valley with very little traffic, but we either have to risk 15 miles of crappy highway riding each way to get there and back, or drive our road bikes to the start of this road. How weird--driving for a casual road bike. Not a fan.

(We loved biking this road, as you can see from Ryan's smile.)

The mountain biking is good, but there isn't much of it or a cycling community. We are 4 hours away from any major metropolitan area, and while I love country living, I think I still need access to fun activities and a gym every once in a while. Pretty much the only thing to do in this town is drink or play pool at very smoky bars. Healthy living is not a priority, and Pratt Kansas has more culture by comparison.

(Awesome singletrack near Ely. Best way to get there: drive.)

Nor is living here very sustainable. Most activities require driving to get there, all of our food comes from the grocery store and is shipped in from Vegas, and the growing season is about 90 days. Yeah, we could have managed, but it would have taken major time and effort. And imagine buying a house, putting in solar panels and a greenhouse, then finding out my job wouldn't be funded next year.

On to Vernal! We will be moving at the end of the month, and fortunately half of our stuff is still in boxes. Ryan will continue to work for ENLC through August, driving back and forth between Vernal and Ely, working 8 days in the field and taking 6 days off in Vernal. I start work July 6. Now all we have to do is find a place to live and start packing again.

(One of the new things I will be packing is this little baby, a coffee grinder given to me by 10 of my closet friends from Corvallis. PNWesterners understand how important coffee is.)

Coming soon

2009-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Photos of Ely and our apartment and all of our weekend adventures. Big news: we just got internet up and running! Yay! So, I'll try to catch up before Ryan and I head for the field on Thursday. For now, a few quickies:

Mountain mahogany seeds with fuzzy awns. How cute.

Tallest peak in Nevada, Wheeler Peak (13,063ish feet, the peak furthest to the right in this photo), though this is up for some debate. Boundary Peak on the far west side of the state is taller, but some argue that it is just a spot on the slope of a taller California peak. I vote for Wheeler. We'll be climbing this later this summer.

Mountain biking the paved road up to Wheeler Peak. We made it up to 10,000 feet before we had to turn back--too much snow on the road.

Ryan biking at Cave Lake state park, 10 miles or so from Ely. Awesome singletrack.

I just flew in from the Mojave, and boy are my arms tired

2009-04-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Actually, my eyes are tired from the drive. I'll post more later. In the meantime, here's a photo and you can check out my flickr page for more.

No chickens here ... yet

2009-03-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of Matt's new house and our new place, prior to moving in.

The front room:

The study/media room. Ryan loves the water heater closet.

The kitchen. Ryan appears to be sleepwalking in the kitchen. I don't know why.

First things first ... got to get the suet out!

The rear house view from the backyard.

This will have to suffice as a post for now.

Instead of applying for more jobs

2009-02-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

I was curious how many jobs I have applied for thus far in my search and set about compiling a database. Fortunately, I've kept most of the job announcements I've applied for and I have a "working knowledge of MS Office suite, including Excel (for both PC and Mac)". I can tell you want to hire me now! Without further ado, here's the summary:

Federal jobs applied for: 11
State jobs applied for (includes university): 5
Other jobs: 7
Total applications since last August: 23

Jobs for which I've interviewed: 2
Job interviews I've turned down: 1
Job interviews I regret turning down, but I had a good reason at the time: 1
Jobs offers received: 0

SERIOUSLY? No job offers?

It sure feels like I've applied for way more than 23 jobs. Like I said, I probably forgot some, and federal jobs take a lot of time because you have to answer a complicated questionnaire for each one. But I feel I am highly qualified for at least 3/4 of these jobs. Another caveat: I've also not been applying for seasonal jobs because I don't want to be gone 10 days at a time (I want to stay married, after all), nor am I ready to move for a temporary job with no benefits--one of us HAS to have health benefits, esp. recovering from brain injury and all.

Do I sound stressed? Well, it's not so bad. I do have some money saved up, and I've got a back-up plan. But that's for another blog, another day.

Guess who's racing again?

2009-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

And I have a new team. I hate leaving Sorella, and I'd like to think I'll always be an honorary member (or at least a friend). But I'm now racing for TAI (Therapeutic Associates), who are building a strong local women's team in Oregon. Plus, my good friend Pam is one of their stars, and she lives just a few blocks from me. Talk about a good training partner.

First news: I raced this weekend and, because of Pam pulling my sorry ass uphill, I ended up 4th in the Cat 3s. This was my first real road race with team tactics and what not. Now we just need to get other women's teams to show up so we can have different teams duking it out and attacking.

Someday I hope to have photos and exciting race reports. But for now, back to more job applications!

Getting rid of stuff

2009-02-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

Unloading what Matt calls "useless nostalgia" is always hard for me to do, and it doesn't help when I ask Dad for advice and he says "keep those trinkets for your kids to play with!" I always suspected I inherited the packrat tendencies from him, but now I have proof.

Ryan made the excellent counterpoint, "our kids will just want to play with ladybugs and dirt anyway." Well said, dear hubby, well said.

So here's where years of hard work and competition ended up:

Yes, that's our trash can. I don't think even Corvallis recycles old ribbons. But I am keeping digital records of what went in the trash heap/recycle bin for posterity.

Isn't it funny I kept only one white ribbon? I forgot to check what it was for, but I'm guessing it was muffins Andi and I made together one summer for the fair. Early into the recipe we got into an argument and Mom had to separate us. Andi assembled the first half of the batter and I finished it up. Somewhere in that process, the baking soda was at least doubled. To say those muffins were mouth-puckering would be an understatement. Come to think of it, they didn't even make it to the fair, as Mom had the good sense to taste one first and save an granny baking judge from having a stroke.

And before Dad starts scratching out his eyeballs lamenting my lack of sentimentality, I did keep one of my reserve grand champion ribbons and five medals, one for each of the kids I plan to have. JUST KIDDING ABOUT THE KIDS.

Finally, a photo of my new bike

2009-02-02T19:45:00.001-08:00

Sorry it took so long. Who knew unemployment was so busy?

I posted this and then realized I needed to add a few details:
1. Note the glass of wine on the bench behind me (near the center; it's okay if you can't see it). My point is I never work on bikes without wine nearby.
2. I no longer have the wanky wheel problem. Ryan, my personal mechanic, fixed it using good old fashioned know how (he sanded some stuff and put on a new quick release).
3. I have ridden this bike 175 miles so far.

I made a bike!

2009-01-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I completed first bike build for reals, from concept to finish. I guess I didn't build the wheels, but I got a sweet deal on a full set and it didn't seem worth the time to build my own.

I inherited an Eddy Merckx frame from mother-in-law, plus a bunch of other random parts. Voila, I built a single speed for winter training (with lots of help from Ryan). Very little blood was shed in the process.

I have a photo I'll post soon, 'cause it is a sweet ride. Still have a few kinks to work out, tho'. The wheel won't stay quite where it's supposed to when I brake and it has a tendency to get all wanky and rub on the frame which means I have to stop, get off the bike, and readjust the wheel every time I brake. So, on the test ride tonight I tried not to stop, which is not as hard as it sounds.

No, you are not yet abandoned!

2008-12-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

After all day on the computer and all night with job apps, the last thing I want to do anymore is write here. But I told ma and pa I'd do it and I apparently don't want to sleep tonight. Instead, here's a movie.

I'll post another skiing movie later this week, hopefully before we leave for Boise for the New Year.

Too bored to blog

2008-10-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

And lucky for you. Because my life is barely exciting enough to keep breathing in right now, much less write about. I've resorted to uploading backlogged photos to flickr, which I haven't done since March. I have uncovered some gems, though. And now I'm going to share some with you.

Here's some feral bunnies that live at the state park in Pacific City where my friends Kris and Stacey lived this summer. It was weird to see them hopping around at first, but we eventually got used to it.

Here's a cute one, just enjoying the beach and sand.

"Here bunny, bunny. How close will you let me get?"

Oh my god, they're multiplying. Who knew?!?

The park managers offered to sell us individual bags of rabbit food, which we politely declined. Interestingly, there was a healthy local great-horned owl population.

Who knows what I will blog about next!

Mini-epic mountain bike ride

2008-09-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

Had an AWESOME ride with the OSU mountain bikers on Tuesday and wanted to drop a quick note here about it.

I recently purchased my first ever "real" bike light. It's called a Mi-newt and it's super cute--I've got it mounted on my handlebars though it can go on my helmet, too. It's teeny tiny, bright, and runs for 3 hours. This is what it looks like:

Simple, no fancy stuff. Just a light that works. Which is perfect for me, cause I'm the kind of lo-tech gal with the MP3/camera/bluetooth phone who barely even knows how to dial a number on it. This light has changed my life, because now I start most rides during daylight but can extend them an hour or two, even, after dark. Plus, I'm super visible to cars on my way home from the trails.

Anyway, we rode into the forest Tuesday around 6:15, which gives us only about an hour of good light anymore ... SO SAD ... and decided to head up McCullogh peak, which we reached right at sunset.

Then we had to ride down South Ridge, which I haven't ridden for probably 3 years (if at all). It's steep and technical, and here we were riding it in the dark. "No problem!" I thought, "I'll just switch on my light."

Here's the part of the story where you think something horrible might happen. But the thing is, this light is so awesome, nothing did happen. Sure , I couldn't see a lot of the fine details of the trail, but I just backed my ass way off the back of the saddle and let 'er rip. The light was plenty to keep me on the trail and away from the trees. No problemo.

I did get a little whiny in the middle sections of trail that were windier, which makes it harder to see with a light on the handlebars. The light points the way your bike is pointing, even if you are looking around the next turn to your right or left. Makes it hard to anticipate where you are going if all you see is black.

Eventually, I got off and walked a couple of things that looked like logs with a 2-foot drop off the other side, but turned out to be rideable (at least in the daylight).

By the time we got to the end of the trail, I was feeling great, not too cold or hungry (thanks Brent for giving me some of you superfood) after a couple of hours of riding. AWESOME. This is the stuff I live for, seriously.

We're mountain biking again tonight, hopefully Ryan can come too, but I'm not expecting near as much fun as Tuesday because it is likely to be wet and muddy--it rained most of the day yesterday.

By the way, sorry my posts have been so few and far between. I've been swamped at work. And, also by the way, no Fossil for us. We're just going to move to Boise, jobs or no jobs, in Dec. Can't take another winter without snow.

The rain returns ... yuck

2008-09-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

It's raining! Crap. I hope this doesn't mean winter is here for good. What a great summer and fall we had, all two months of it.

Lots of news here: first, GET WELL SOON TIFF! She has a broken right hand, which ought to make for good dissertation typing. She was hit by a car on her bike this weekend and caught her fall with her right hand, breaking the three outer metacarpals.

Otherwise, she's okay, which we're SO glad for, but it certainly doesn't help allay my fears of biking around a college campus. SCARY DRIVERS. Period. I yelled at a guy today who passed me way too closely.

Also, Ryan and I are starting to get active in groups that are working for a universal health care plan for Oregonians. We may be able to take our story to the state legislature--that of being underinsured and fighting with insurance, tooth and nail, to get things paid for.

Finally, we decided we've gotta move to a place that snows in winter, that's all there is to it.

By the way, I'm trying to decide right now, AS I WRITE THIS, if I should spend the approx. $200 in gas and lost work time to travel to Fossil, Oregon, for a job interview.

That's a rather large investment for a job I'm 55% sure I would accept. Maybe I should save everyone the time and money and just not go. But I think it does snow in Fossil, sometimes, in the winter. Maybe I'll ask one of the 400 people that lives there.

150 miles and then some

2008-09-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

That's probably about what we spent on our mountain bikes Sun-Mon-Tues. I'm still tired. I was so tired yesterday, I didn't even bike! And I've been eating like a demon ... wait, I'm not sure what that means. I bet you get the idea. Here's our base camp and our support vehicle:

Day 1: ride from Madras to this awesome, awesome cabin in Ashwood, Oregon, population 4, not including 8 dogs. We more than tripled the population.

Day 2: bike to the Ochocos, through ponderosa forests, by John Day fossil beds, to the John Day river. Swim a bit. Bike back to Ashwood, last 6 miles in the dark (but with a big ol' prairie moon):

Day 3: bike back to Madras, up a few hills. Get a few flats. Eat sandwiches and jelly beans.

That's it for now.

Stay tuned tomorrow for some pretty cool news related to our recent strife with the health industry in Oregon. And maybe some more photos.

Bike trips on the horizon

2008-09-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Just so ya know:

Ryan and I will be leaving tomorrow, Sunday, to bike on the annual Corvallis Cyclery Shop trip (don't tell the cat). Enrique closes the shop for a few days late summer every year, and every employee (plus spouses) goes on a 3-day bike extravaganza. All food and expenses paid.

This year we are mountain biking around Ashwood, with base camp set up at Enrique and Kay's cabin. Awesome!

Lots of photos and actual biking adventures when I return!

Money for bikes

2008-09-11T08:45:00.001-07:00

I was riding last night ... holy crap, on my bike ... in shorts that are now too tight. Ugh. Wait, that's not the point of my story. My point is I was riding with a bunch of folks who regularly show up for the Corvallis Cyclery road ride. Last night there were about 15 people, which was pretty great. Awesome! I can tuck in the group and not have to fight the wind!

But it was one of those groups with older, shall we say, more experience riders and newbies, with the newbies trying to show their stuff and the oldies (sorry) trying to put 'em in their place. So the group kept splitting as people were constantly pushing the pace, and I pretty much just hung off the back riding with my new cycling friend, Jen. I wanted no part of the crappiness--this is a casual ride, after all, with some sprints built in. I guess to some folks, everything is ALWAYS a race, all the time. Which gets old.

I did have an awesome conversation with Ivar, who rides for U of O, and we talked about funding for college cycling teams. Cost can be a HUGE barrier for a lot of high school and college-aged kids who want to start racing. Aside from the bike, there's the race fees and gas driving to races and kits and replacement parts and clif bars and on and on.

I think it's awesome that a lot of folks come to racing later in life--what a great hobby to invest in. But wouldn't it be so much awesomer to try to snag more of the 20-year-olds? Maybe even some of the 16-year-olds? If you have a steady income source being all grown up with a job and what not and want to get into racing, how great would it be if instead of buying a $3000 bike, you bought a $2500 bike and donated $500 to a local college team?

It's for the good of the sport.

Mmmmm ... Burgerville

2008-09-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

My goal was to blog every day. Stupid goals. I've been writing, elsewhere, and no time to write here. I guess I could cut and paste my job cover letters for you, if you want.

Anyway, I rode Sunday with Brian Knaus, who is defending in a week ... CONGRATS BRIAN! Okay, sorry, off track again.

We stopped halfway through a 60 mile road ride for blackberry smoothies (yum) from Burgerville, the only fast food I find remotely acceptable.

As we sipped from the outdoor tables, I was amazed by the enormity of the kid's size. At 12 ounces, it was almost too much for me, an adult in a calorie deficit.

"Good God," I said to Brian, "how the hell can this be a kid size?"

"Kids are a lot bigger today," he said. Very true, and very sad.

Someday when my life has some structure, I'm going to fight that trend and take some girls riding. Right now, though, I have to find a job.

Choice

2008-09-04T21:31:00.000-07:00

Palin's press release (copied from the Chicago Tribune online):

"We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby ..."

And from the Anchorage daily news coverage of the gubernatorial debate, Nov. 2006:

Palin said she would support abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. When it came to her daughter, she said, "I would choose life."

First off, what kind of jerk would force her daughter have a baby that arose out of rape? Consider that Bristol was 14 when Palin said this. And how strange is it that a woman who apparently thinks we should limit almost all abortions (via a government ban, presumably) would use choice language so freely?

What she really means is that as long as your choice is the same as hers--which is really no choice at all--you are free to choose it. Otherwise, it's the government's job to step in and say no.
Which seems totally opposite of one of the major Republican platforms (no big government, personal responsibility, yada yada yada).

Jon Stewart actually pointed out this hypocrisy in his interview with Newt Gingrich. It's near the end of the interview, so you'll have to be patient or fast forward.

Okay, I'm done with politics this week.

People who talk sht but actually do sht

2008-09-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

As I was listening to my 20-year old freeriding friend babble on last night, I came to a new realization.

Robert is a person who sounds like he talks a bunch of crap, but he also actually DOES a bunch of crazy crap.

He starts most of his stories like this:
"Dude, I was jumping this 20-foot cliff with a tree at the end of the runout, and my foot unclipped and [insert scary situation that is just barely survivable here]!"

Or something like that.

Before I really knew Robert, a lot of the time I'd be thinking, yeah, right, like that really happened. I used to work with a jerk in Pocatello, let's call him Herbert, who had a $4000 mountain bike on which he put 50 miles ALL SUMMER. In IDAHO. Where we have WORLD CLASS SINGLETRACK.

But oh my god, Herbert talked like he went riding all the time. My coworkers and I were actually out riding all the time, and Herbert was always trying to convince us that he, too, was a "real biker." It didn't help he was a racist, sexist blow hard. Herbert talked a lot of sh*t, but with nothing to back it up.

Back to Robert. I was a bit leery of all his big bike talk at first. But then I saw him, with my very own eyes, actually jump a 10-foot cliff. And ride down a concrete handrail next to a staircase and pop a wheelie off the end. And numerous other potentially bone-breaking things.

It isn't that Robert is a sh*t talker; he is just so youthfully exuberant about bikes and the insane things he does on them, to the untrained ear it can sometimes sound like the other kind of sh*t talker.

I'll consider myself now educated, with a finer ear to discern between the folks that talk crap and those that actually do crap.

Now, to apply my new crap-discerning skills to the other facets of my life ...

Apparently, I no longer race bikes.

2008-09-02T17:53:00.001-07:00

And I no longer write about bikes. Hell, am I even riding bikes anymore?

(moment of deep self reflection)

Huh. Guess not. I mean, not really. I'm riding 3 days a week now, max. And even that takes effort.

I was just reading my teammates' race report from the last road race of the season and feeling a bit jealous, especially after seeing how well they did. But that hasn't been enough to motivate me to race most of the summer.

I have no motivation for it anymore, it seems. I feel like such an ass because I'm sure there's nothing more Nicole S. would rather be doing right now than riding her bike, and here I am all like, "oh, I'm so TIRED. I don't want to get on my bike right now" whine whine whine.

So why? Why why why? Somebody else is gonna have to tell me because I don't know.

I do know that most of the time, I just don't feel like it anymore. I'm in the midst of what seems like an endless stream of paperwork crap from medical bills and insurance, and I'm applying for jobs--my/our lives feel so open ended right now, it's exhausting.

And that creates another problem--what do I do for exercise when I'm not riding my bike? Totally lost on that one too. I hope I figure this all out soon. It's stressing me out, man.

Here's something interesting I've been doing instead, though, with my rockin' band:

And we have a LOGO, which is more important than good, original songs:
Ryan's coworker and my friend Dennis drew this for us. I owe him payment via cookies.

AND we have a motto, which is even better than a logo:

Half as fast, but twice as good lookin'!

Can you imagine ...

2008-08-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Sarah Palin as president?

I shudder at the thought. And at the same time I'm thankful she's on the ticket, because now there's no way in hell McCain will get elected. As if he had a chance before, but now the last nail's in.

Thank Goddess.

We need a vacation

2008-08-19T11:50:00.001-07:00

Nothing new going on here right now. But somehow I feel like I need to write SOMETHING. How about a nice little list? In threes? 'Cause everything is better in threes.

Things we have been doing lately:
1. Working (Jessi, Ryan, Matt)
2. Biking Alsea Falls (Jessi, Ryan, Matt)
3. Recovering from illness (Jessi)

More things we have been doing:
1. Watching olympics (Jessi, Ryan, Matt)
2. Marveling over our new niece (Jessi, Ryan, Frog)
3. Applying for jobs (Jessi, and Ryan SHOULD be doing this)

Things we will be doing (I'll spare you who's doing what):
1. Mountain biking Waldo lake and camping
2. Planning a longer vacation (camping? going home? who knows?)
3. Cleaning up and organizing Ryan and Jessi's crap in anticipation of moving, someday

Things we will NEVER, EVER DO:
1. Sell our bodies for money
2. Ride our bikes without helmets
3. Understand the new Olympic gymnastics scoring system

I've always loved gymnastics, but this year I've been especially obsessed, and I'm not sure why. I could watch Nastia all day, and let me tell you, she was ROBBED on the uneven bars.

I can't wait for the olympics to be over so I can go to bed before midnight. Even midnight takes a lot of self discipline.

the health care industry

2008-08-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

Isn't it dumb that you can even say "health care industry" and people will know what you are talking about? By dumb, I mean wrong. As in, shouldn't you just be able to get the care you need without paying out the nose for it? Why does "industry" have anything to do with it? Why should people be making a profit off of other people's injuries?

I haven't been talking in my blog too much about all the health paperwork Ryan and I have been dealing with over the past year or so, but I feel a chapter coming to a close and I wanted to write about it a bit.

We have one lingering bill from OHSU that is not entirely paid off (but will be by the end of the week with any luck). This is not because we don't have the money for it--though it is quickly running out as we have a broken collarbone to pay for and we recently discovered Ryan will need braces related to his broken tooth from the accident last year, but I digress.

No, this one can be blamed solely on Ryan's insurance company, LifeWise. I could have paid the bill and been done with it months ago, but over time this became a a matter of principle for me.

I've learned to hold on to bills for a bit to let LifeWise and the hospital work things out between them. This usually works out okay, especially when I call the hospital and talk to them in person. They are usually the ones who tell me to wait.

So, this particular OHSU bill wasn't getting paid several months later, even though LifeWise owed about $1400: approximately half the bill--we owed the other half toward Ryan's deductible. It took about 5 phone calls to the insurance company to even figure out what was going on.

I'll try to spare you the jargon (though they didn't spare me). But here's what a typical conversation was early on.

Me: Hi. Why won't you pay this bill?

Them: Well, that isn't our responsibility. We don't have a contract with OHSU [the biggest research hospital in Oregon]. You have to pay a higher deductible.

Me: But we didn't get to choose providers! It was an emergency! You people told me we wouldn't have to pay a higher deductible.

Them: Let's look at the claim. What was the date of service?

Me: Well, it's about 3 weeks of dates, so let's start with the first day.

Them: Oh. What is the claim number?

Me: Well, there are about 30 associated with that bill, and every time you don't pay it, I get a new piece of paperwork with a new claim number on it, so I'm not even sure which claims are the same from bill to bill.

Them: How about a provider name?

(I give them a name).

Them: It looks like there are duplicate charges for that provider on that day.

Me: No, he actually had 5 x-rays on that day.

Them: Oh. I can see this is going to take a while. How about I look at this during my "research hour" and get back to you.

Me: (wait three weeks. Get no phone call. Call insurance again. Repeat from start).

Several times I broke down crying with the person on the phone because essentially I'd have to relive every day in the hospital when looking at the bill, like "Oh, on this day he had 3 abdomen x-rays--that was they day he pulled his tube 3 times" and so on.

And trust me, I got names of every person I talked to, although none of them had personal phone numbers so I couldn't call them back directly, thus necessitating the above conversation with every new person I talked to. One gal back in November that I thought would get the job done never called back, so I called the company and was told SHE WAS NO LONGER WORKING THERE. Seriously. It was like I was living in Sicko. Except we HAVE insurance.

I fought, pleaded, cajoled, and worked with these people for over 8 months and made at least 25 phone calls. I refiled the bill paperwork three times, once because it would no longer fit in a 3-inch binder, and then two more times as I started to figure out the insurance company's system.

At one point I was told I'd have to appeal each and every misprocessed claim to get the insurance company to fix their own mistake. I'm pretty sure I would have just paid the bill had it come to this, but that was not to be.

Finally, FINALLY, two months ago one woman at LifeWise actually followed through (or took pity on me) and *POOF* the last bill we got showed an insurance payment.

I called the hospital billing office to make sure. She confirmed the payment and I actually said "OH MY GOD, YOU TOTALLY JUST MADE MY DAY," which made her laugh.

I AM GOING TO DRINK HEAVILY TO CELEBRATE. And maybe I'll buy an extra special Americano tomorrow to sober up. Then I have a check to write.

Quintessential Oregon Cycling ...

2008-08-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

apparently is supposed to include wine. That's Jenny there, smiling, 'cause she knows she's brilliant to have suggested a wine/bike tour.

I cannot believe we haven't done this before, but better late than never. We signed up for this wine tour a couple of months ago as a carrot for Ryan to heal from his collarbone incident. Sunday dawned with absolutely PERFECT Oregon summer weather, little fluffy clouds breaking into sun later in the day, warm and not hot, almost no wind. Which made for glorious, easy pedalling all day long. Our friend Jay agrees.

I wanted to keep riding this ride forever. So much so, Ryan and I missed the turn back to the finish and just kept on riding. But the doting support crew stopped us less than 1/2 a mile later and got us on the right track.

And food. LOTS OF FOOD. OH MY GOD THE FOOD.

Here's Ryan, enjoying a salmon dinner and chardonnay, having completed over 66 miles on his bike on only his SECOND ROAD RIDE since collarbone surgery.

Look closer and you'll see how Ryan plans to replenish his glycogen stores.

For $45, we got route planning, mechanic support, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and free wine sampling all day long. Here's the official stats:

miles: 66.4
ride time: 4:30
avg. speed: 14.7
wineries visited: 4
glasses of wine consumed: uh ... 3 or so?
fuzzy dogs petted: 3

and just in case you want to sign up yourself.

How we cool down after a mtb ride in Cornvalley

2008-08-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to post this video forever and finally figured out what I was doing wrong (duh). I mostly just wanted to put this up to make Mom nervous.

Notice how SLOW I'm riding. Next time will be with more speed AND style, I promise.

Off to Lincoln City tomorrow to visit good friends Moab Kris and Stacey, two of the best cyclists I know. Stacey used to work at River City where she was known as "Little Stacey" and she used to rip it up on the cross scene, and Kris rides like he was born in Moab (plus he lived there a while, thus the nickname). I've seen him do stuff on a barely-functional rigid bike that I would never do on a downhill bike with full body armor.

I pledge my head to clearer thinking ...

2008-08-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service,
and my health to better living
for my club,
my community,
my country,
and my world.

This is the 4-H pledge and it is the greatest pledge ever written. No rampant nationalism, no mention of a higher power, and full acknowledgment of our obligation to the greater good. Who knew rural folk had the answer right all along? With that in mind, Ryan and I checked out the Benton County Fair yesterday, where we saw some super cute things:

I'm getting all nostalgic over my own 11-year stint as a 4-Her, though I was a "city kid" and never did all the livestock stuff--instead I sewed, baked, collected insects, took photographs, and gave talks.

Oh, and once I did something like this:

No, not really. But dude, I would've been pissed if I didn't get grand champion for that.

By the way, Ryan went for his first road ride yesterday since his busted collarbone. We spun an easy 40 miles or so. Cake! Plus, we're both going to yoga twice a week again. We are getting back into the routine.

Hi! Meet Robin, my sidekick!

2008-07-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

Doesn't she look pretty in the sunlight and sepia tone?

She likes epic rides (duh, that's her last name), romantic mountaintop Clif bar dinners, and long rides on the beach. Okay, that last part isn't entirely true. Sometimes I have a hard time deciding whether to spend time with her or this other guy. I feel especially lucky when I get to spend time with both.

Tired bikers make happy hikers

2008-07-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have not been on my bike for nearly a week. Feeling especially exhausted and I have no idea why. Can you believe I have no bike rides to post about? I do have a couple of photos from Hart Mountain, though ...

This is the view from partway up a crazy switchback road to get to the top of Hart Mountain Refuge, which is surrounded by wetlands below as you can see in this photo. I took this photo my last night there and was too concerned about getting out of the lightning storm to worry about exposure or framing.

To get to the refuge from civilization, you drive southeast from Bend through many miles of sagebrush and ponderosa, over passes and through valleys and around lakes, until you end up smack in the middle of a sweeping expanse of sagebrush out of which rises the towering escarpment of Hart Mountain.

You drive VERY briefly through Plush, population 12.7, and skirt the western edge of the escarpment by winding north around shallow lakes and marshes. Rounding the northern end, the road begins to climb up toward a gap in the mountains. This improbable, steep switchback road climbs up and up until you pop out at the top on a broad plateau rimmed by the escarpment peaks.

And here you are, where the pronghorn eye you warily as they munch roadside bunchgrasses and the evening light lingers an additional 2 hours once the sun sinks below the peaks on the western rim.

This is the impossibly rocky, bumpy road (before it gets rocky) that takes you to Poker Jim Spring. I hope Poker Jim had a horse because this trail kinda sucked.

And here's what Biniam, Liz #1, Liz #2, Matt, Ryan, and I did yesterday. A little bit of hiking, a little botanizing, and a little bit of herping.

Home again

2008-07-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

I just came ashore yesterday from the sagebrush sea and am currently sitting in the coffee shop catching up on email and what not. Unfortunately, this means I am unable at the moment to upload photos of the trip. But first things first ...

NIKKI FUERTE, GET WELL SOON! Nicole was ripping it up last weekend in a super D race (which is essentially downhill racing for technically-skilled xc mountain bikers) when she crashed and banged up her humerus. She is now officially on team GIMP, or team Got Injured on My Pedal-machine.

So, back to the fun and sometimes amazing part of biking ... while at Hart Mountain, I went on three rides, one I would consider truly epic. I actually had to attempt this ride twice because on the first attempt, my six-year-old seatpost bolt gave out 5 miles into the ride.

I was just getting to the steep, loose, dusty part of the road when I felt the nose of my saddle starting to point upward, putting pressure on my tender parts. This meant two things: either my saddle was loose because the bolt had come loose (unlikely, but easy to fix) or something on my saddle was breaking. I hoped for the former and got the latter.

Sure enough, when I hopped off my bike and grabbed the tool to tighten the seat down, the bolt sheared off and just like that, the saddle was no longer attached to my bike.

I stowed the saddle in my camelbak, lowered my seatpost to avoid uncomfortable goosing, and stood up and pedalled back to the bunkhouse. I must have had some good karma coming my way because I was able to remove the broken half of the bolt by hand AND I was able to find a substitute bolt at the refuge mechanic's shed. Within 10 minutes the saddle was reattached to the seatpost despite the fact I was about a gazillion miles from the nearest bike shop.

This whole situation was even more unbelievable considering the true conversation I had with my mechanic the night before leaving:

Me: Okay dude, I packed a spare tube, bike pump, extra chain link, and lube. Can you think of anything else I might need? There's no bike shops out there.
Ryan: Nope. Oh, but I do think we should replace your seatpost bolt soon.
Me: Why?
Ryan: Because it's old and I think it might break soon. Remember when mine broke on top of Mary's peak and I had to descend the entire North Ridge trail with no saddle?
Me: (remembering fondly) Yeah, well, I guess we can deal with that when I get back.

And you know what happened after that. Either Ryan's a psychic or just a damn good mechanic. Tho' next time I'm packing an extra bolt.

It all worked out in the end. I went on my epic ride the next night. I didn't take a single picture because I didn't want to stop, but I saw about ten thousand of these (this photo's from some other time and place):

In the slanty golden light of early evening, these indian paintbrushes were blindingly brilliant. I was flying through fields of paintbrush and sagebrush on a high-desert ridgeline with a tailwind, just flying along sucking up bumps and rocks for miles and miles. It was heaven. It was flow. And it's my little secret.

To the field

2008-07-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving today for a week and there's no internet where I'm going, so I won't have any posts for a bit ... please be patient with me and trust that I'll have some good stories and photos when I get back.

While away, I'll be mountain biking one of my favoritest rides ever, so I'll let you know all about it when I get back. It is truly an epic, which is appropriate because I am taking my epic.

Roadie or no?

2008-07-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

In my minuscule little corner of the world, the oh-so-cool queens of the dirt have been known to ridicule "roadies;" that is, obsessive road cyclists who don't like to get their bikes dirty, are too fond of their smoothly-shaved legs, use tactics or conditioning rather than skill to beat you, and generally lack any bike-handling skills. I was accused last weekend of being a roadie.

I AM NOT A ROADIE! I swear. If I had to choose forever between road biking and mountain biking, I'd pick the latter. Despite my recent inability to ride over even the tiniest of logs, I am getting my soul back, one log roller at a time, and would like to present to the court why I still qualify as a dirty--er, dirt diva.

Exhibit A: I don't shave my legs.

Exhibit B: I have bruises all over my legs from trying various poses on my mountain bike beyond the traditional "sit in the saddle" or "stand on the pedals" asanas. Some of my new incarnations include "topple over sideways with one foot clipped in" or "catapult over the front of the handlebars."

Exhibit C: I fell off of my bike on a trail ride the other day and landed in a bevy of prickly vegetation (including poison oak) and I actually laughed out loud.

Someday soon I'll post photos proving that I am not, in fact, a roadie.

For now, though, you'll have to look at photos of what Ryan and I saw on our hike on Mary's Peak on Sunday. We saw a varied thrush for the first time but were unable to capture it on film. Some of these other things did a better job of holding still:

Cascade Classic

2008-07-12T15:04:00.001-07:00

Ryan and I just rolled into town an hour ago from Bend where we did a whirlwind tour watching the Cascade Classic criterium, hanging out with good friends from Corvallis (don't know why we have to drive across a mountain pass to see them, but better that than never!), letting Nicole shower us with her hospitality (mmmm pancakes!), and seeing some famous people to boot:

Those sinewy cyclists sporting the yellow jerseys just so happen to be two of the fastest American road cyclists, Levi Leipheimer and Kristin Armstrong. Levi would be racing in Le Tour right now if his team hadn't been kicked out for doping last year (before he was even on the team).

My favorite part of the race was seeing a friend from Poky, Stuey (everyone else just calls him "Stu," but his name is really Chris) who went and got all fast. He rode well yesterday in the pros, staying with the lead group for the whole race and even getting back in it after a wreck split the field. Ryan and I used to ride with this guy. Well, mostly he'd just wait for me at the top of the hills. Ah, to be young and fast. I'd say "again", but I never WAS fast, though I'm pretty sure I was young at one point. The good news is, I keep getting faster.

luv,
me

Tour Picks

2008-07-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Matt have been on me for several days to pick winners for the tour. I may be wearing out their patience, so here, finally, are my picks:

1. Cadel Evans

2. Christian Vandevelde

3. Alejandro Valverde

Tie Breaker:
Hincapie will place 10th.

Keep in mind, my choices are based on nothing because I haven't made time to follow the tour or pre-race coverage, and my choices are heavily influenced by the cuteness of said competitors. I'm a sucker for dimples.

This is the guy I would have picked for cuteness alone,

but for starters, he's been kicked out of the tour this year because of recreational drug use (naughty, naughty), and he's a sprinter anyway, so would never even make it into the top 50. But dang, is Boonen cute.

Family dinner

2008-07-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

When froggie comes to dinner ...

No, kitty, that's my kabob.

Just so you don't feel lonely

2008-07-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't be blogging right now, 'cause I'm at work, but rectifying datasets in excel is eyeball-drying BORING.

I did race last weekend in a crit (and on a whim), and while I didn't turn in a stellar performance, I was able to chase down several attacks. Still need to work on keeping my position going into the final laps in a crit--basically, I need to race smarter. My friend Pam is both strong and smart and therefore it was no surprise that she won. Rockin'! I'll be mountain biking tonight with her and other assorted friends, with my brand spankin' new disc brake pads that I put on my bike all by myself (although Ryan did give me verbal instructions).

And if none of the above paragraph made any sense, ignore all that crap and I'll try to post a photo tonight or tomorrow of Froggie eating dinner with us at the table.

luv,
me

WTF!?!

2008-07-01T23:54:00.000-07:00

Instead of telling you about my last race where I sucked major big time, let me tell you about something Ryan and I have been working on ... English is sorely lacking proper punctuation for sentences needing both exclamation and question marks (and using both is generally not allowed in most writing situations). These phrases are typically shouted at the top of your voice or used frequently by sports announcers:

WHO'S GOING TO BE OUR NEXT CHAMPION!?!
WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!?
YOU WEREN'T GOING TO EAT THAT, WERE YOU?!?

Ryan and I coined the proper punctuation for such a sentence as a "questlamation mark," and we've been working on several possible characters for such a mark.

Lo and behold, we should have asked Mr. Internet first. Turns out some guy in the 60s (likely high on pot) already did this and called it an interrobang. Hmmm. I like questlamation mark better.

Look at all the things I'm getting done now that I finished grad school.

Elkhorn and Salem

2008-06-28T09:44:00.000-07:00

Remember that big ass race that happened last weekend? 4 stages and lots of climbing? Yeah, well, I was nervous before each and every stage; the first was the worst. What if I didn't finish? Then I would have spent all this money to not even be able to finish the race. What if it sucked bad and I bawled my eyes out while trying to pedal up an 8-mile mountain in 103-degree heat, a repeat of my performance two years ago?

But as I finished each stage, my outlook improved and I'd say to myself, "well, I finished that stage. Only X stages to go!" I didn't smoke any of the races, turning in rather average performances, but in each race I was pleased to finish mid-pack considering I haven't really been training or racing this year.

So, by the time we got to the last and biggest day, I was stoked. I'd made it! By god, I was going to finish Elkhorn! I just had to hang with the lead group up three little climbs until the last mountain, then who the hell cared what happened after that. I pulled out my best strategery, starting each of the little climbs mid-pack then letting my pace slow until I popped out the back. Each time I did this I could ride a little slower uphill than the group, but I wouldn't loose so much time that I couldn't catch up on the downhill by working with a handful of the other stragglers.

Doing this I was able to stay with the group until mile 90, when I felt the tell-tale squishiness of a rear flat tire. I pulled off and the wheel change guys fixed me up in about 30 seconds, then I raced to catch back on to the group which was still going about 13 miles an hour on the flat, so I caught them easily. Until I got dropped a mile later when the climb started--I think those women like to push the pace to 13 mph uphill. With my current fitness, neither my legs or lungs can handle that, so I vowed to maintain a saner 10 mph, a pace which I could probably maintain indefinitely, and I eventually picked up one or two ladies who had lost the lead group.

I was so excited when I finally crossed the line, I couldn't stop smiling:

I haven't felt that good after a race in ... oh, what the hell. Never. So, I guess maybe this season isn't over for me after all. See you at Salem?

BTW, shout out to these folks:

Darcy Miller for the photo.
Nicole Strong for teaching me the ways of the post-race ice bath.
Pam Archer for imparting her vast racing wisdom and companionship.
Anne Linton for sharing everything graciously, including her infectious positivity.
Tim (who's last name I can't remember right now, please forgive me) for running support and anchoring the one-man Sorella cheering squad.

Speaking of bald eagles ...

2008-06-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I saw two yesterday when we went birding. In total, we saw about 18 species, which isn't a lot, but we did see a super cute brown creeper gathering lichen. Plus, we heard lots of swainson's thrushes, but they are too elusive to see.

We also picked 11 pounds of strawberries yesterday. I've already eaten a pound all by myself.

On a related note, should I do this bike race on Sunday?

Hi, have we met?

2008-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, I believe we have. Two months ago, perhaps? Yikes, how time flies. Well, yes, I've been busy. Did a huge-ass bike race this past weekend (about 200 miles worth). Prep for that, plus work, plus dealing with Ryan's busted collarbone--good god, I can't keep up.

Well, in upcoming weeks I will be doing these things:
1. Building a singlespeed bicycle
2. Looking for a new mandolin
3. Searching for a job

Want to help? You do? Well, in that case, I'll keep you abreast of all my activities, three times a week, so you can give me all your input. I promise. See you Thursday!

J

What I did for my Spring Break ...

2008-04-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

As a grad student/recent graduate, I don't technically have an official spring break, and when I DID have a legitimate claim to a spring break as an undergrad, I was too damn broke to take one. That's why you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN. Which we did, but I'm still working on the story. Meanwhile, I've got a photo or two to post here. Thanks, Matt, for these.

forgive me please

2008-04-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am the queen of not following through. I can't decide if I promise too much, deliver too little, or do a bit of both. In either case, I am skipping my favorite poet/athlete post to tell you that I am working on a blog on our death valley trip. Stay posted. I swear, I'll follow through on this one.

(okay, I really like Alison Dunlap as an athlete, if you must know)

Rachel Carson

2008-03-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

is my favoritist ecologist. Duh. There's not too many *famous* female ecologists to pick from (at least that instantly pop into my head). Is that 'cause there weren't/aren't many? Nah, just probably that ecologists aren't really into the limelight anyway, so ya gotta dig to find 'em. I'll work on a comprehensive list some other time.

Meanwhile, you can learn a little bit more about Ms. Carson here.

I'm running out of time on my lists, so I might have to combine the athlete and the writer next week.

Agnes Chase!

2008-03-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

Who is, as you may have guessed, my favorite historical type botanist. She studied grasses in the early 1900s (which makes her an agrostologist, pronounced "ag-wrist-olo-gist"). She wrote a book, too. But what makes her the coolest botanist is this: she was also a radical feminist fighting in the women's suffrage movement and spent time in jail for it. No shrinking violet, this one.

There ya go. I hope I'm more timely with my next choice. I should be posting some photos soon, so maybe this will be more entertaining soon.

Oh, I raced my bike today, and much like last week, I'm SLOW. It sucks, being slow, after having been so fast a year ago. Yay for building seasons (bleh).

Women's history month

2008-03-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, so not only is March my birthmonth, but it is also women's history month! This year the focus is on women in visual arts. As I know nothing about art, I will doing my own honor list here of my favorite historical women in the following categories, one for each week (though it will be hard to choose):
1. Fave botanist
2. Fave ecologist
3. Fave athlete
4. Fave writer and or poet

Stay posted as I reveal who makes the list each week! Post your own suggestions in the comments!
In the meantime, click this link for more info on glorious, glorious herstory! Celebrate the exclamation points!

All's quiet on the western front

2008-03-03T21:38:00.000-08:00

Thesis finished, fire burning, wine in my glass and salad in my bowl. We're contented here, to say the least. Thinking about starting a new blog because this one is B-O-R-I-N-G. At least to me. Plus, with all this free time on my hands, I could either save the world or indulge my narciblogicism (and my neologisms). Obviously, I'm choosing the latter.

Here's an oldie but a goodie photo for your viewing pleasure, dear reader (and I mean that in singular because this blog is B-O-R-I-N-G). Note random apostrophe that makes Ryan scratch his head/helmet (that is what he is doing, in case you can't tell).

Welcome to the rest of your life ...

2008-02-04T20:43:00.001-08:00

Ever finish something big and then not know what to do with yourself, so you sit around doing nothing for a while? Those of you who read this and have kids (hiya sistahs) are laughing uproariously at that idea. And I'm not really done with the thesis, I still have revisions to finish and a manuscript to write (that goes out for publication in a scientific journal). But for those of us who have the luxury of sitting around trying to figure out what to do next, the options can be overwhelming. Here's my short to do list:

1. get a job somewhere in Corvallis that starts in April
2. get a job somewhere in the West that starts sometime after July
3. build a bike
4. fix my other 4 bikes
5. plan my bike race season
6. actually start riding bikes
7. quit ignoring the cat
8. buy a new mandolin (and learn how to play it properly)
9. plan a trip to Death Valley
10. plan a trip to Costa Rica (or somewhere else warm)
11. make the bed
12. paint and organize the bedroom (been trying to do this for a year now)
13. write a book
14. write thank you notes
15. write a blog

You can see, I have many things to do and I'm not sure where to start. Oh, hey, looks like I can cross #14 off of my list! But on the rest of this ... decisions like these are always best left for tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow, whichever comes first.

Sorry I've got no new photos--I've been a bit burned out lately on photography and despite the fact I spent two weeks in Kansas and three days in amazing snow near Bend, OR, I have nothing to show for it. Save for my nasty whiplash from taking a digger while shredding the gnar yesterday (I fell snowboarding).

My favorite highlights of the trip home include playing "husband and wife" with my niece with whatever props and characters we had available (at one point the tiger finger puppet had to resort to marrying typical prey item and fellow finger puppet "Sheepie" for lack of a more suitable spouse) and watching my 18 month old nephew leap off of the futon and face plant on the carpet, only to get up giggling and do it again (and again and again, for 20 minutes). Or maybe it was getting my other 2-year old nephew to repeat adult-sounding multi-syllabic words in sweet, slurred baby talk (next time you are around a toddler, ask them to repeat scientific names). Or maybe coercing my other niece, who is also 2, into playing mandolin and singing with me, a task she took on with relish, establishing a musical style all her own.

I love kids, but the best part is I get to enjoy them in small doses when they tend to be on their best behavior, and not once was I asked to change a diaper. Probably because the one time I did it, I put it on backwards. It's not like they're labeled; how am I supposed to know?

Yo, baby

2007-12-30T20:06:00.000-08:00

I'M DEFENDING IN TWO WEEKS!!! CAN YOU FREAKING BELIEVE IT? So why am I here writing this? I've got lots of work to do.

JUST TO GET YOU PUMPED UP, HERE IS SOME CRAZY SHIT ON A BIKE. Yep, that's me. For something really scary, look at Ryans photo below.
I USED TO DO THINGS LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME. THEN I WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL.

Defending is cake. Seriously, just cake. Easy-peasy.

In my quiet little corner ...

2007-11-27T23:18:00.000-08:00

...taking a break from thesis writing, in the lab working on my computer at 11:19 pm. Today is officially the 6-month anniversary of Ryan's injury. Not different from any other day, but worth mentioning.

Sometimes I think about what happened this summer and it seems like it was another person, another time, or perhaps a nightmare. I must have spent 4 months in a fog. These days, I go to school and things feel fine, then I go home and see Ryan is still not quite himself. But it's bearable, and it keeps getting better. Definitely an improvement from when I couldn't do anything else because all I could think of was Ryan, or all I had time to do was take care of Ryan.

Ryan reminded me today of the first month after he "woke up" (which was about 3 weeks after his injury) and he couldn't tell if his injury was real or "fiction"--his word. Every day I'd have to explain to him why his injury was real. Why I bothered to try to convince him, I don't know, because it was yet another effort in futility. But I really could understand how his injury didn't seem real to him. Imagine waking up one day with a fuzzy head and things aren't quite working right and somehow you've lost at least 3 weeks of your life. Talk about an existential crisis--I'd hope I was dreaming, too. I'm so glad I don't have to convince him of his reality anymore.

So, enough seriousness for now, this is a good relief. Maybe I'll write something funny next time. We can only hope.

P.S. I'm finishing my methods section tonight!

Hermitville

2007-11-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

Yo, folks, never finished the century story. I might someday. While I'm at it, I also need to upload the 2,000 photos I have on my camera from the last month. But here's the point: I'm drinking a Merry Irishwoman as I write and it makes me blunt. No, wait, that's not the point. Hold on, I think I've got it somewhere ... did I mention this is a strong drink and I've been trying to finish it for three hours while I put together our IKEA dresser (yes, I sold my soul, but I'm trying to pay off hospital bills for cryin' out loud)?

Okay, back to the point. If I really wanna finish this thesis thing, I have to set priorities. That means less blogging, as evidenced by the recent lack of such. So, bear with me for the next two months or so as I utterly ignore this page. I might post here and there, but I really shouldn't. This is the last one, for a while, I swear.

Now back to the drink! I mean, thesis! Yeah, that's right. Thesis. THESIS. THEEESSSIIIISSSSS.

1-oh-8 part deux

2007-10-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

When last we left off, we were resting our weary legs around mile 30 at a well-earned rest stop. After snapping a few photos we hopped back on the bikes and spun easily for a few minutes, drafting for a bit behind a group of one lucky guy and 3 women—one on a pink bike wearing coordinating pink knee socks. We eventually passed the group, chatting it up a bit as we rode by. Away we went, cruising past apple orchards and farms. We passed one orchard with no less than 50 rhyming signs: “Apples are red, apples are yummy,” and 50 feet later, “our apples are best when they’re in your tummy,” and so on (I may have made that up). Ryan and I must have been distracted by the signs, because it took us a couple of miles to realize we hadn’t seen other cyclists for a while. Hmmm … how could we have taken a wrong turn? We’d seen no obvious turn. Still, there was no denying we were the only cyclists on this particular road. We decided to turn around and backtrack until we found other cyclists. Two miles back up the same road, I was getting worried. Had we really missed the turn by that much? Why wasn’t it marked better? Worse yet, with the time we had now added to our trip, would we have enough time to leave the lunch stop by the 1 pm cutoff time? Would we have enough energy to eek out the last few miles of the ride, or would this little side trip cost us our century?

FINALLY, we rolled over a hilltop and saw other cyclists making a right turn we had missed MILES earlier, right around the time we were passing Ms. Pink socks and crew, and our error had cost us about 6 miles. Ms. Pink socks and crew had realized their error much earlier than we did and turned back, abandoning us to our fate. A simple shouted “HEY, YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY” probably would have done the trick. Manners, people. Not to mention the very poor route marking at the least obvious turn on the route. Well, now we had a new challenge, and Ryan and I set about making up the lost time, re-passing a lot of the same folks we had passed earlier. They must have been very confused as we blazed by them for the second time. (I learned later that we could have continued on our wrong turn, which kept us on a parallel route that met up about 3 miles down the road with the right course. I’ll check the map next time.)

I breathed a sigh of relief when we arrived at the lunch stop around 12:15, no worse for the journey. We inhaled our burritos, chips, bananas, and cookies. Four hornets took turns dunking themselves in my hot cider while I was trying desperately to drink it. Jerks. Ryan had wisely opted for the hot cocoa, so he sat giggling and sipping his beverage in peace while I was bombarded.

Cider-bombers vanquished and bellies full, we re-mounted our bikes once again. Our route angled north, so we had a great tail wind and were able to sail along effortlessly at 17 mph. The roads were flat and open, with almost no traffic. Perfect. It couldn’t last. Sure enough, at mile 60 we turned back into the wind. Goodbye, easy cruising. We climbed a bit to the next rest stop at mile 65, where we were greeted by a cheerful toddler and a horse who seemed way too happy to munch on our bar tape. Thankfully, a volunteer moved our bikes out of the horse’s reach before any damage could be done.
We spent more time here than at any of the other stops, knowing that we had another 25 miles to go before our next rest stop and it would all be into the wind. In my limited endurance cycling experience, miles 70-90 can be the toughest—your energy is waning and you still have a ways to go. Plus, if you haven’t been careful about hydrating and eating along the way, this is when it comes back to kick you in the rear.
I felt pretty good but maybe hadn’t been drinking quite enough water. Ryan’s right shoulder was starting to get sore and I worried how it would hold up in the ensuing miles.

Okay, that’s enough for now. The next post will wrap this whole thing up and will be shorter, I promise.

1-oh-8 part 1

2007-10-13T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here I am at school on a Saturday, supposed to be working, not blogging. However, it has been almost a week since our century ride and I need to get this written down before I forget, so I guess I can relinquish the next half hour or so. It's all about therapy, right?

I, like Ryan, was nervous the night before the ride as we never can tell how Ryan will feel on any given day, as it's nearly 100% dependent on his sleep quality. We bailed on our original plans to camp out the night before and opted instead to get up at 6 am to drive to Champoeg (pronounced "shampoo-ey") State Park. Our plan actually worked, as Ryan slept relatively well and popped out of bed at 6 am on the dot. Our good friend Brian Knaus had planned to ride with us, but called us at 6:15 am to cancel due to illness. He decided 100 miles with a cold was not a wise decision, even being a rock star and all, so he went back to bed, and Ryan and I were off on our own.

When we arrived at the registration 1.5 hours later, we were amazed how many people were there--we had to park about a half mile away from the registration table. I talked to a gal in line for the bathroom who was riding her first century ever! She was a bit apprehensive, but I reassured her she would have no problem finishing the ride as the weather was relatively balmy and the road flat. I recalled my own first century in Yellowstone at an elevation of 5,000 feet in April in 45 degree, windy conditions. Yeah, no problem, if Ryan and I could do THAT (in 6 hours, no less), we can do this.

We had prepared for almost every cold/rainy riding conditions but had neglected to bring sunscreen, which I assumed meant the sun would eventually come out and we would get fried. Presently, though, it was overcast, cool, and windy, and proper attire included arm and knee warmers, long-fingered gloves, and rain jackets stowed in back jersey pockets. We were running a little short on time, and we scrambled around getting our bikes together and getting dressed. By the time we were all ready to go with numbers pinned on (I still don't understand why you need race numbers for a recreational ride, but whatever), it was 8:25! Technically, century riders were required to be on the road by 8:30. Yikes. I was a bit stressed out (I hate time limits) and I could see Ryan's coordination and speech was still a little off, but I chalked that up to his typical post-injury morning grogginess.

As I had hoped, as soon as we got rolling we both started to feel better. The road was flat and well-marked, and there were lots of friendly folks to chat with briefly as we passed. Not that Ryan and I were trying to pass people, but our relative fitness and racing experience, plus my residual stress at getting a late start, moved us right along, compared to the experienced recreational rider's more leisurely pace. There was a strong cross wind out of the south as we pedalled east, and I knew it would be a bear as we would have to ride into it later in the afternoon, but we're born Kansans so I didn't fret too much--wind? What wind?

The first hour rolled by smoothly through flat ag land and vinyards until we hit the first rest stop at Canby Ferry. After refueling on bagels and bananas, we waited in line for 20 minutes or so with other cyclists for the ferry to take us across the Willamette River. Apparently the coast guard has regulations about how many bikes can go on the ferry at a time, so when it was finally our turn to get on, the presumably caffeine-deficient ferry operator cut off the line directly between Ryan and me.

"Wait, I have to go with my husband!" I said.

"Well, I can't let more people on according to the Maritime Royal Jerk act of 1859 blah blah blah" he must have said, even though the ferry was only half full and one of the race volunteers had already counted off the correct number of people to get on. Check out the photo to see the group of 10 or so of us that got left behind.

"Fine," I said, "Ryan can just stay here and someone else will go in his place."

At this point, Ryan was visibly angry and stepped out of the line, saying something not so nice to the ferry operator. I don't think the operator heard it because he was too busy spouting off the rules, but as soon as he turned to walk away, Ryan instantly felt bad about his reaction. He has had many extreme reactions (for him) since his injury, as it is harder for him to control his emotions. Of course, he feels worse about it afterward than anyone else. I presume this, like everything else, will get better over time as he heals.

We finally got on the ferry and across the river to a big hill just on the other side that I had to use all my gears to get up. People were getting off and walking their bikes, tipping over while trying to clip in--it was a mess. Impressively, Ryan spun up the hill with no difficulties; in fact, I think we passed everyone else in the group so that by the time we got to the top of the hill, it was just us out in front and the open road! We pedalled on, leaving the confusion behind.

The next 20 miles or so passed uneventfully for us, the overcast sky was starting to break up with the sun peeking through, the smooth road winding through hazelnut farms, orchards, and forested streamsides, and it was just Ryan and me side by side on our bikes. I learned at the next rest stop that through one of the twistier sections of road, a cyclist behind us went off the road and about a dozen people stopped to help, plus a support vehicle or two. I think the cyclist was okay, but I was shocked--we had no clue that had all happened behind us.

Oh, and that next rest stop was the BOMB! Herbed roasted potatoes, fresh fruit, chocolate, and cheerful volunteers awaited us. We hung out for a bit, and then we were off again.

To be continued ... next post will include the harrowing tale of a wrong turn and getting lost for six miles in the SW Portland countryside (if there is such a thing).

Sick-o

2007-10-01T14:56:00.001-07:00

Rest nest
Originally uploaded by jessibru

Is it food poisoning or the flu? Only time will tell ... maybe I caught it through Andi's blog. This will be short b/c it is hard to type sideways, and as you can see from the photo, my toast is waiting.

We had unexpected visitors Friday night who we were unable to capture on film, but we got photos of the scare-tactics.

Laters.

Four things ... a meme

2007-09-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

Four jobs I have had in my life:

Mexican Fast Food worker
Stream ecologist/technician
Bread baker
U.S. Census taker

Four movies I've watched more than once:

Point of No Return
Run Lola Run
Kill Bill, all vols
Princess Bride

Four places I have lived:

Austin, Texas
Pratt, Kansas
Fort Collins, Colorado
Pocatello, Idaho

Four T.V. Shows that I watch (all via Netflix):

Sopranos
Arrested Development
Sex and the City
Planet Earth

Four favorite past time activities:

Biking
music, music, music
reading and writing
baking

Four places I have been:

San Salvador, Bahamas
Treasure Island, FL
Sun Valley, ID
Sun City, KS

People who e-mail me (regularly):

Ryan
Erin Madson
Kay McKnab
Botany and Plant Pathology department

Four of my favorite foods:

raspberries directly off the vine to my hands and then mouth
Wedding cake with real butter frosting
Mocha chocolate chip ice cream
Coffee

Four places I would rather be right now:

Pocatello, Idaho, on Gibson Jack mtb trail
At the top of Mt. Borah, Idaho
Smith Rock, climbing
mtbing around Waldo Lake

Four friends I think will respond:

Kinetic
Andi
??
??

Four things I am looking forward to this year:

Finishing my thesis
Riding a century with Ryan
our first xc ski trip
halloween festivities (cyclocross, parties, etc.)

It's all in the eyess

2007-09-25T15:23:00.001-07:00

It's all in the eyess
Originally uploaded by jessibru

We have so much crap in our house that we've been moving around with for a near decade. What do you do with that stuff that you aren't sure you want to throw out because of the memories it is attached to, but the object itself isn't worth anything to you? Answer: digital photograph! I can't believe I haven't done this sooner. First to go: crappy high school art. If I moved with this stuff one more time, I was going to get a citation from the feng shui police.

kicked off my work computer

2007-09-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

I'm a grad student with no computer home. Today I got kicked off of the "community" computer I was using because it has a scanner attached to it and other people wanted to use it (once every 2 months) ... it was the only computer with the statistical and graphing programs I needed on it. I'm getting them loaded onto another computer now, so don't feel too bad for me. In the meantime, I'm wasting precious time and getting pissed at people for complaining to the computer guy. Plus, it's not like I'm on the "golden scanner computer" all the time. It's just when people panic and need to scan something RIGHT AWAY because they waited until last minute and then they have to wait for me to log off (like I said, this has happened two times in a year), well, they get a little whiney. Whatever, scan your dumb photo of your new puppy chewing on the morning paper so you can send it to your niece ... I'll go write my thesis elswhere.

Extra extra

2007-09-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Hiya, folks, another self-indulgent yet short update. Feeling very weird today, so many thoughts flyin' around up there, hard to stay focused. Maybe the caffeine? Maybe the sunny fall weather? Maybe the upcoming camping trip/mtn bike ride around Waldo Lake? Any other late 20-30 somethings out there that are feeling torn in 500 directions yet trying to find their way in life? Was I supposed to figure this out 5 years ago? Who gives a crap, I'm going to go play my mandolin and ride my bike.

Tried to post my flickr website last week and was unsuccessful, so I'll try again:
click here immediately

Yo, kinetic, you might be the only one reading, so shout out to ya.

My last message seemed kinda down; things are generally pretty good these days and I feel so thankful for what we do have, but at the same time I often feel sad about what has happened this summer. Took me a bit (and some professional help) but I finally figured out that a)human emotions are complicated; and b)it's okay to be sad and thankful at the same time.

Okay, I'm at 5, so it's go time. Laters.

quick update

2007-09-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

I promised myself this would only be a five minute update. I've been working on my photo site at flickr; if you want to see what I've done, check it out:

In the meantime, we've been keepin' on keepin' on, trying to stick with the biking, therapy, and stay upbeat. This is getting more and more difficult as time drags on and folks that aren't close to us say insensitive things or have unrealistic expectations on Ryan. Aw, hell, even I do that. We might have to see about getting Ryan on anti-depressants in addition to his sleeping meds; that's pretty common after TBI.

On the bright side, I'm getting a lot done at school. Plugging away at my analysis and results, and I made some nice tables and figures this week. I can see the faintest flicker of light at the very end of that long, dark hallway!

Shake it like a polaroid picture

2007-08-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Speaking of ... I've been trying to take more photos with our new digital camera that I bought to document Ryan's recovery, and I've been a bit lazy about it lately. I'll be better, I promise. Sometimes I feel as though there's only enough time to either experience life or take photos of it, but not both. I can do both. I am, after all, my mom's daughter. Frenetic doesn't begin to describe that energy sometimes. I say that with love.

Lately I've been feeling a bit depressed. Can't quite put my finger on why ... NOT! My bike riding is down to about 50% capacity due to, shall we say, other time commitments, while my eating has maintained a steady pace; thus, lack of strength and general unhealthiness has set in. I'm trying to get it back under control--the 24 oz. of coffee a day (in multiple doses, mind you), overeathing, lack of activity, general exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Up until last week my sleeping had been fitful, mirroring Ryan's (or because of?). I'd wake up four or five times during the night, and often when wakening at 3 am I'd eat a bowl or cereal before going back to bed. Not horrible, yeah, but not helping. I'd rather be sleeping. I got some good sleeping meds and problem solved. I think the answer to the rest of it is yoga, weightlifting, and tea.

Depression, smession. I'm not truly depressed, but it's hard to stay positive all the time, especially when you are missing the companionship that you've had for the past 9 years. I'm so glad to have what I have with Ryan and his continual improvement, but things are still way different and it's hard not to get down about that. Other people that mean well still don't quite get it, saying things like "You are so lucky he's doing so great!" or somthing like that. They are right and having people around us being positive is very helpful, but I can't help but feel like no one GETS it. I heard something on some NPR show (can't remember which--maybe radio lab?) where they were talking about pain from bullet wounds in soldiers vs. citizens. Soldiers with war wounds felt less pain than someone shot, say, in the local 7-Eleven hold up because a soldier who gets shot is a hero, and he/she knows it. Someone who gets shot in a hold up knows that nothing good can come of his/her situation--long and painful recovery, hospital bills, and so on, so it hurts more. I think Ryan and I have the same thing going on; we really are lucky that his recovery is expected to be so complete, but nothing good can come of his injury. We can try to turn it around and make it work for us, but when you get right down to it, we would have been pretty damn happy to continue on the same life path we were on sans traumatic brain injury.

Whew, I hope I'm not getting too personal, but I can write more here than I do in my journal. This is just for me to go back and read later since I'm not obviously capable of doing it the old fashioned way. Sorry, thoreauians and leopoldians. Not a pen and paper kinda gal.

So, to end on a positive note, I'm planning to spend most of September and October racing Cyclocross and mountain biking with friends. Not a bad way to say goodbye to summer, cruising at high speed under the trees. The trails are in great shape this time of year, if a bit dusty, which can easily be remedied by a quick dip in the nearest mountain lake or hot spring. Ahhhhhhh.

Back again

2007-08-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

I think I might start writing here again, although I'm not sure how much. I've been trying to keep my own journal at home, but I'm only getting to it once or twice a week. Maybe this will help supplement with slight less personal goings-ons.

Not that anyone is still reading my blog--you all must be reading Ryan's caring bridge. Good for you. I myself check it at least twice a day (even though I know what Ryan wrote), just to read the comments.

I appreciate velodevi, abdubya, and kinetic's blogs lately. Pearl, you gotta start writing again--if you have time. I need to know what's going on in your lives, it makes me feel normal.

I think I'll write something substantial later; I just wanted to see how this feels. Ahhhhh.

Maybe not

2007-05-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

we rode up Mary's peak this morning and I am TIRED. No amount of coffee ...

She's back!

2007-05-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

I decided to draw a picture of my bruises since many of them are in places where a photo would not be appropriate. I did hit that tree with my lap, after all, which my cat Frog doesn't seem to understand. "Why can't I jump onto your lap?" he seems to say, frowning at me every morning this week. "Well, cat," I say, "do you remember Monday morning when you jumped up onto my lap and I screamed and grabbed you, causing you to engage all your claws and puff up like a scary cat with your ears back while I tried tried to disengage you from my tender parts?" Not the best way to start the morning. Soon, my pet, soon, the lap will be available. I'll let you know, kitty.

Obviously, everything is still tender to the touch, but as far as muscle usage goes, I'm like 95%. I rode last night and felt great. I think the moral of this story is sleeping, eating, and keeping feet up and legs iced is GOOD GOOD GOOD. I'm going to try this before my next race. Just gotta watch out for the myositis ossificans. The mya-who-da whatta? Well, if I'm unlucky in my healing I could end up with bone growing in my muscle. My plan to avoid this is to just don't do anything that hurts. And keep up with the ibuprofen and icing. And eat cake and cookies. A cunning plan that cannot fail.

Bad News (but not too bad)

2007-05-20T18:52:00.001-07:00

For a change of pace for today's mountain bike race, I'll let a little 8-inch diameter maple tree on the course narrate.

Tree (lap 1): Look at all these crazy bikers out in the rain today. Geez, are they getting muddy, and good god, this singletrack next to me sure is loose and steep. Holy crap--that girl in the Sorella jersey is going way too fast to make that corner! Oh no, she went down! Oh wait, she got back up and jumped back on her bike! Phew. Rock on, sister! Guess I'll see her next lap.

Tree (lap 2): Boy, I've seen about 50 people go by and this loose trail isn't getting any better. Oh, there's that Sorella girl again, and she took that corner much better this time. Here she comes ... huh, her left foot's out of her pedal. She seems to be going much too fast. Keep your weight back honey! Oh shit, she's headed right toward me. LOOK OUT--you're gonna hit--OOF!

Yep, sorry tree. Didn't mean to wrap myself around you. At least you can know you were responsible for the worst wreck I've ever had on a bike, but how bad can it be when I don't break any bones? I must say, I feel pretty invincible.

So, here's what happened. I lost control on a downhill section when my foot blew out of my pedal and I couldn't get it back in, which I wanted to do before I started braking, which I needed to do but would throw all my weight forward, and potentially send me over my handlebars without both feet clipped in ... man, was I in trouble. That tree had me in its tractor beam, and the second I looked at it (rule #1 of mountain biking--look where you WANT to go, not where you don't want to go), I was done for. I was fortunate I took the brunt of the impact on my lower abdomen, hips, and thighs, which just so happen to be the strongest parts of my body (thanks ma and pa for the good genes). Immediately after impact, I had a little 2-second argument with myself:

"Self, you have to keep on riding! Get back on your bike!"

"No, Self, you just hit a tree. You can quit now if you want." I said this last part out loud to convince myself.

If I'd just waited 2 more seconds for the pain to set in, this all would have been easily settled ... YOWZA! I laid on the ground next to the tree crying "Owie owie owie! Please help me! I just hit a tree! Owie owie owie!!" Now I'm channeling my inner 12-year-old girl? Where'd the tough chick go? Regardless, I felt pretty lucky to be conscious, owie or no owie.

Wasn't I also damn lucky that the gal racing just behind me (and first to me) was a physical therapy intern? Hot damn! She knew what she was doing--took charge of the scene and looked at my injuries, checked my whole body for pain, the whole first-aid run down. Then she and another gal helped me walk back up the trail to the road. Okay, okay, they pretty much carried me. Then a nice freeride guy loaded me up in his truck and drove me back down to my car, where I waited for Ryan to finish and while assessing whether a trip to the hospital was appropriate (I opted for no, but I'm headed for the health center tomorrow, I swear).

It took about an hour for the pain to subside to bearable levels (so I wasn't saying owie every 30 seconds, which was embarrassing in front of a 40-year-old guy that regularly hucks 10 foot gap jumps). Ah, but as soon as the advil kicked in ... happy time, kids.

I feel pretty good now, and I don't want this to set me back in my training. As good as I feel right now, I think I'll be ready to ride again on Tuesday. Of course, that could just be the advil talking.

I'll post photos of my bruises once they develop :) Oh, and Ryan got 7th, maybe his best race of the season. I'm so glad he finished--they were gonna pull him but couldn't find him!

My first DNF ever. So sad. Well, I can take satisfaction in the fact that it took a damn tree to stop me.

Good news

2007-05-19T18:35:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know (and others may not) that I'm riding on a team from Sorella Forte in Race Across Oregon this July. We are currently sponsored by Hammer Nutrition--they make energy gels, drinks, and so on--but we still were looking at paying several hundred dollars out of pocket. Entry fees plus gas money, plus food ... it adds up pretty quickly. Well, gol darn if we didn't pick up another sponsor this week! One of my teammates has been working on this for a while and got a company to donate $600. Yeehaw! That helps a lot. Anyone out there reading this that wants to sponsor a kick ass women's team? Know someone who knows someone? Anyone? Family doesn't count, but I'm pretty sure my readership is all college students and family members raising kids. I need to post my blog on www.richdoctorswhowanttosponsorwomenracers.com.

Meanwhile, keeping up my end of the bargain, I've been trying to keep training but not get sick. That meant sleeping all day on Wednesday (Dr. Husband's orders) but no nettie pot, sorry to disappoint my sisters. My head is getting less and less full but my lungs feel raw and I still have no leggie power. Plus, I'm totally stressed about not getting any super long rides in the last couple of months (over 70 miles). It needs to happen soon. That's my goal for next week, get in a century. It's about time.

Oh, and in racing land, I am actually leading the Oregon Bike Racing Association Best All Around rider competition. Check it out while it lasts:
BAR
I'm also gonna race tomorrow, mountain bike style, but sans power. I'm sure that's gonna work well for me.

I have poison oak in my cleavage

2007-05-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

I bet you were surprised that I even have cleavage. Well, now I have poison oak in it. That's in addition to on my legs and arms in little spots. HOWEVER, it is not even 1/10 as bad as it was last year at this time, and I definitely won't need to call in the heavy drug artillery on this one ... gonna ride it out with caladryl. My only alternative to not getting poison oak? Don't ride my mtb. Not gonna happen.

So, about that team time trial, I like the opposing couplet writing method, so I'm gonna apply it here. I chose to end with the "positive" rather than the "negative."

thumbs down: not a lot of ladies there
thumbs up: two whole Sorella teams! Cat 4 and senior women (that doesn't mean we're old, just over 18--weird, huh?).

thumbs down: both teams got last place in their categories, but due to the small fields ...
thumbs up: both teams got state champ medals (2nd and 3rd place!)

thumbs down: never practicing before the day of the race (or minimal practice)
thumbs up: working incredibly well together, I felt like part of a fast machine. Pull through to the front, give your all to the machine, then drop back and rest.

thumbs down: strong wind from the south
thumbs up: yay tailwind ... max speed, 28 mph! On flat land!

Now, on to the next race ... mtb here I come, poison oak, WATCH OUT!

Team Time Trial Championships--NOT

2007-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

It's been five days since my last blog. I'll write stuff about the TTT when I get a chance.

For now, though, let me bitch about how icky I've felt on my last couple of long mountain bike rides. Yesterday with Matt and Ryan, I couldn't find my on switch and I felt like I was getting sick--my head was full and snotty, and I just couldn't get the cranks around. I felt the same way last Sunday. What is happening to me? All I wanna do is have some fun ... on a bike ... in the sun ... all the time ... at high rates of speed. Is that too much to ask?

On the bright side, despite my complete inability to ride uphill yesterday, I had no problemo with the downhill, in fact, I found it hard to slow down, riding right up Ryan's ass (when I usually lag behind a bit). I should have told him to let me go first since I didn't seem to know where my brakes were. Now, if I could get the yin and the yang working together ...

Race Report ... Second Take on Hokey Humble Pie

2007-05-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

XC Racin' by Jessi

Can I just tell you all how fun it was to watch the DH race on Sunday? Funny, too, I made the same observation about all the non-downhilling girlfriends independently from Nicole. Bummer ... like the world needs more two-wheeled testosterone. But as Nicole proved, you don't need to have the gnarliest bike in the world to be a champ, so maybe more girls will suit up next time?

The XC race was the same as usual: we went up, we went across, we went down, lots of road and a little singletrack. I saw, like, two women the whole time, and the first place expert beat me by 5 minutes. It was mostly boring and mostly painful, except for the rockin' downhill where I rested and laid on the brakes like any sane person (who pedals through this crap? Oh, that's right, Nicole does). Tight switchbacks kept me entertained and my speed in check.

I think I'm coming down with something. It's called ERS or "epic ride syndrome" and it strikes 1 in 4 mountain bikers every day. Symptoms include: inability to concentrate on work in front of a computer; inattention to responsibilities; gazing off into the distance for long periods of time and thinking about mountaintops; and an insatiable appetite for more. There is no known cure.

Let me just say that my training ride yesterday was freaking, incredibly, unbelievably challenging and gorgeous. We rode around a lake and up a mountain, and it took 4 hours to cover 20 some miles. Backcountry style singletrack (think foot-wide scree trails and exposure, yikes!), top of the mountain views, steep-and-loose switchbacks, the works. Freaking incredible. This is why I started mountain biking in the first place.

Writing about my race after yesterday's experience is like writing about running in the local 5K after climbing Everest. Kindof.

Recipe for Humble Pie

2007-05-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

2000 feet of elevation
a few real mountains
genuine singletrack with 20 off-camber switchbacks
1 rock garden
2.5 hours of racing
2 crazy girlfriends on bikes and a shared motel room
1/2 day downhill spectating
1/2 day epic riding
2 acres healthy poison oak
1 crystal clear lake
1 friend on a singlespeed bike
1 patient hubby
1 abandoned mine
1 defunct sasquatch trap
5 stream crossings
10 downed trees
a 10-foot jaunt into California
4 ounces sunscreen
300 ounces water
8 hours of round-trip driving

Prep time: 3 months
Baking time: one weekend

Directions:
1. Give up any notion of getting anything else done all weekend.
2. Race as hard as you can, but be sure to enjoy the downhill.
3. Take your inhaler(s) so you can breathe. Also, stock up on allergy meds and decongestants from friends in hopes of avoiding the sinus headache after the race.
4. Don't trust the chamber of commerce lady when she tells you she knows all about the bike trails and she's over 70.
5. Proceed directly to the local bike shop to get ride advice.
6. Make sure to ask them how hard the ride is.
7. Be sure to eat lots of food the Monday after.

In a nutshell: Got 2nd in expert women category, 4th woman overall. Nicole raced downhill for the first time as an expert woman and had a blast. She may have been 4th as well, I'm not sure yet. We both finished just out of the prize money (could have won $75 if I'd ridden 3 minutes faster), but I had one of the hardest and most beautiful mtb rides I've ever had yesterday that made me forget all about the race ... reminded me so much of mountain biking in Idaho, and I'm still recovering. God, I miss riding in Idaho.

More muddy fun time?

2007-05-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

Race this weekend, yes sirree,
gonna ride my blue bike
uphill, uphill, yipeekiyay
get along, little bikers,
and stay out of my way!

That made no sense, but welcome to my brain. We've got a mtb race this weekend in Ashland, OR. It's the XC state championships, which means nothing except ... well, nothing. Ryan and I and our buddy Nicole are crashing in a hotel with a friend of hers from Tahoe on Friday, then Ryan and I race Saturday while they play around. Then, Sunday Nicole is gonna rip it up on the downhill course. I always knew she was nuts. This just confirms it. We're gonna cheer her on, then go play around ourselves. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Go until you blow and if you blow, oh no.

Girls and Boys Love Dirt

2007-04-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Photos from our first mtb race of the year, the Mudslinger, for your enjoyment!

Exhiliration, frustration, exhiliration, frustration

2007-04-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

You spin me right round baby ...

Due to popular request (Mom and Dad) I will now write my RACE REPORT ON TUESDAY's TIME TRIAL instead of working on my stats, which is what I should be doing.

exhiliration: borrowing $3000 wheels to make me faster at the time trial

frustration: having to swap them out on my bike, plus brake pads, plus computer magnet, plus putting on aero bars (and then taking it all off when I'm done). Who has time for this? Apparently, I do.

exhiliration: not raining, 50ish degrees outside

frustration: headwind, threatening rain, and did I say headwind?

exhiliration: gonna ride hard to try to beat my arch nemesis!

frustration: SHE DIDN'T SHOW UP!!!!!!

exhiliration: Ryan and I went out for pizza and awards afterward

frustration: left after an hour when they STILL didn't have the results and awards ready. Really, what race requires you to go to a different venue and wait for hours for awards? Also, my arch nemesis was too good to come to the last race, but good enough to show for the awards ceremony, and since she got second place overall, she probably got all the prizes. Whatevs, we all know I'm faster.

exhiliration: Ryan 5th overall in his category, me first in mine (although it feels somewhat hollow now). At least I was consistently the fastest woman overall

exhiliration: GOING TO FLORIDA TONIGHT!

Sufferfest 301

2007-04-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Quick update on last week's time trial. Apparently, I BEAT MY ARCH NEMESIS by 50 seconds, despite all my wheezing and crying and almost missing a turn on the course. I think I permanently damaged my lungs--the air was so cold and it was raining off and on. Nothing like pushing yourself to your limit in 48 degree rain.

So what that means now is if I win tomorrow night's TT, I win the series overall because my combined time over the past 3 weeks is 3 SECONDS FASTER than hers. Oy, the pressure. Thank goodness I'm going to Florida this Thursday so I can get a little respite.

Mud is your friend

2007-04-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend I relearned why I love love love mountain biking. I'd almost forgotten. First off, Friday was a sunny day preceded by two weeks of cold, wet weather, so I played hooky from school and met my girlfriends (slash teammates) at a local freeride place with ramps, teeter totters, dirt jumps, etc. They were mostly beginners, so the ride was really chill--we'd stop at obstacles along the way and ride them several times for practice. Great fun--I rode some scary stuff I didn't ride last year, like a 6 foot high (or so) "ladder" (check out photo below for an example). It's basically logs and wood nailed into a bridge that the dirt trail leads into, but the ladder juts out past the trail, then ramps down at a steep angle. You just ride it like you ride a steep section of trail. Keep your ass back behind the saddle. Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Later that day I went for a ride with Matt and Ryan, and HATED it. The trail was muddy and I had no control, slipping sideways over logs and losing traction on the climbs. I was not looking forward to my mtb race today, which ain't called the "Mudslinger" for nothin'. The all-day rain yesterday did not help my mood. Oh, and this was my first mtb race as an expert, yikes!

I showed up to the race today (in the near-rainy weather) just hoping to finish and not be totally humiliated. As Ryan and I were warming up and getting our gear together before the race, I started to get excited. Here we were, 10 minutes before race time, and I wasn't nervous in the least--completely opposite of road racing. Expert and pro women raced together today, and as I rode up to the start, I recognized last year's cyclocross national champion. Gulp. Okay, now the nerves were kicking in.

Off we went, the pro ladies rocketing uphill, never to be seen again. Well, most of 'em. I went around a couple of ladies right at the start and just started grinding away uphill. Fortunately, most of the uphill was on gravel road, but the downhill, OH, THE DOWNHILL. Muddy doesn't BEGIN to describe it. I figured, well, if I'm gonna ride this, I'm gonna RIDE IT. I whooped and hollered the whole way downhill, sliding over roots and logs, sideways at times, punching my foot at the ground occasionally to keep from falling. It was awesome. I don't know what got into me, but I was passing boys and girls left and right. Yee haw. Then, I got to the bottom and got to ride most of it AGAIN. That's right, kiddos, two laps for the experts. I was actually looking forward to getting a second shot at the downhill, but then my rear derailleur (gear shifter) started to fritz out on me, so I had to baby it a bit. Then, I lost the mouthpiece on my camelback and water started gushing out all over me (which didn't matter, 'cause I was covered in mud). Then it started raining. Then I bonked. Let me tell ya, it's hard to eat on a mountain bike, especially when everything is covered in mud. Needless to say, the second downhill was harder than the first, and I didn't ride it nearly as well, but, hey, I was tired! And good god was I glad when I finished, soft pedalling all the way uphill to the finish chute.

When all was said and done, I had mud in my eyes, ears, nose, mouth, everywhere, even on parts of my body that were covered in layers of clothing. (I'll post a photo as soon as I get one). I cleaned up and lined up for post race noshing--soup, bread, fruit, red bull, YUM. And, despite my relaxed attitude about the whole thing, I won the expert category! Wha? How did that happen? I saw nary a gal until the last DH where a pro passed me, but I let her go 'cause she was a pro, and I was tired, dammit. I'd say I survived the whole ordeal pretty well. If this is what mountain bike racing is gonna be like this year, sign me up for 'em all.

Shout out to my hubby and personal bike mechanic who switched my tires out on Saturday to what he calls "mud-shedders" and I call "magic carpet rides from heaven." He may not have won his race, but he had a lot to do with me winning mine.

Oh, and the title of this blog? I think I actually yelled that while I was riding downhill to let a guy in front of me know he should stop braking and just ride it out. Silly boy.

A race photo!

2007-04-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

The only photo of me racing a bike I've ever liked.

In a related vein, I was also thinking today about a conversation I recently had with someone who was just getting into biking. She was full of a million questions, like "how many hours do you ride?" or "how hard do you go?" She obviously had the enthusiasm for riding, but lacked experience, either racing OR biking in general.

Not that there should be a minimum number of hours put in on a bike before you race, but I think people can sometimes get in over their heads before they're ready. They hear "beginner bike race" and think, "Oh, I'm a beginner ... that race is for me!" Actually, beginner races are for people who have bike experience and are ready to get into racing, not people that are just learning how to ride. This used to happen all the time at mountain bike races in Idaho. Beginner mountain bikers (not beginner racers) would quit halfway through a race and complain that it was too long or too hard when, in actuality, the course was probably just about right for someone who has mountain biking experience but lacks only the racing experience.

Ryan calls this "racing to ride" instead of what it should be, riding to race. If the only thing that gets you on your bike is an occasional race, then you are putting the cart before the horse. Racing can be a big time and money commitment, so it's silly to invest in races when you are neither mentally nor physically prepared and there's a good chance you'll DNF. Plus, it could make you hate the sport. Better to take it slow and build up some skills first before you commit to the racing lifestyle.

This is not to say you have to spend all your free time on a bike if you want to race. That's what the beginner/sport/cat4 races are all about: folks who ride a lot for fun, don't want to train seriously, and want to throw a race into the mix every so often. Or as a springboard for those who want to get more serious.

Jessi's racing thoughts for the day. Stay posted, I've been working on other bike blog ideas, like how disc brakes help when you least expect it.

Longest Race of the Year (so far)

2007-04-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

Below is an excerpt of what I emailed to my team about my last road race, this past Saturday. My arch nemesis was there and kicked my ass (got 4th place). I think I'm going to pick a new arch nemesis who isn't so strong.

"There were a LOT of sketchy riders out there, especially some gals who were really antsy about trying to stay near the front. One gal cut me off on her way to the front, and I had to steer away to avoid hitting her wheel, which sent me into Tina Brubaker's path--I felt her shifters on my hip. Fortunately, neither Tina nor I are panickers so we just rode it out, then I apologized to Tina and we both shook our heads over the erratic riders.

Oh, and good god, the shifting. One gal kept trying to shift into her little chainring and her rear derailleur would rub on her spokes (that unmistakable "clunk clunk clunk" sends chills up my spine). Also, lots of folks were shifting too late on the hills--the clatter of the chains dropping into the little chainring almost always precedes somebody abruptly losing their chain. Ride away from these people, if you can. I always try to anticipate when I might need the small chainring and shift into it early while shifting up in the back to maintain a similar gear ratio and not lose momentum. Then, when I need the extra spin uphill, I can just downshift in the back--the rear derailleur can shift much more easily under pressure and it won't drop your chain off. I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I had to get that off my chest.

Physically, I felt pretty good after a full rest week--we'd get to the top of all the hills and I'd feel great and be near the front of the pack. I couldn't believe it. I'd look at the gal next to me who'd be breathing heavily, and I'd think, geez, I don't even feel tired. Until the last hill, oh my, that was tough. Kim and I were able to stay near the front and take a few pulls (you can make friends doing this and not lose too much energy if you do it at the right time) until the very last hill, where the final attack came. I huffed and puffed and tried to keep with the leaders but finally dropped off about 200 m from the finish when my breathing just wouldn't hold out. The cool headwind over the top of the hill didn't help.

It was fantastic to have a big Sorella team there. Hopefully we can get to where we can work together more, which is hard to do right now since we haven't raced that much together and don't know each other's strengths and weaknesses. It really made my day to see so many ladies in blue."

Little more technical than my other posts, but ask if anything doesn't make sense. By the way, I got 8th place. Not stellar, but I was happy to place in the top 10, and this is still "training" for me, so I'm not really in it to win it these days.

P.S. I have my first MTB race of the season this Saturday, which I am really looking forward to. I'm in the "expert" category now! Scary!

Girls' music night

2007-04-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

Since ya all have been asking, here's our setlist from the performance on Saturday:

Orphan Girl (Gillian Welch)
Crawdad (traditional)
Arkansas Traveller (traditional)
Shady Grove (traditional)
Linger (Cranberries)
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan?)

Our "band" includes:
Lead Vocals: Nicole
Banjo: Emily
Mando: Me
Guitar: Nalisha
Violin and Guitar: Tasha

So, this all came about when last summer, my fellow grad student Pek and I decided we should commit ourselves to playing more guitar. We'd also noticed at the handful of "sing-alongs around the campfire" get-togethers we'd attended, there'd be like 10 guys with instruments and maybe one gal (Emily) with a banjo and one or two female singers (Nicole and sometimes others). We started a "girls' music night" that met every couple of weeks or so at different people's houses where the ladies could play together and not worry about being "bad." The whole idea was to not be scared and just learn to play together and have fun (and drink wine and eat chocolate). Pek's fiance has a fantastic band a that plays at the local bars. He asked us to open for their opener, and Tasha convinced us we should do it. And there you have it. We aren't a "band," just gals that play together, so we called ourselves "girls' music night."

The venue is called "Squirrels" and is a pretty chill bar that serves only beer, no hard liquor, which means no frat boys (thank god). Their stage is on floor 1-and-a-half, between the ground floor and the upstairs pool hall, so it's a little weird--people stand on the stairs next to you, look down on you from the balcony, or up at you from the floor. Hopefully I'll find some photos soon that'll show it a little better. It was kindof nice to not be on a traditional stage where I think I might have been even more nervous.

This has been a big weekend. I had a big bike race on Saturday, then the performance, then snowboarding yesterday for the last time this season (happy and sad!). Can't wait to get back to work!

Sufferfest 201

2007-04-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Quick post before school/work today ...

We had another time trial this week, and had to wait patiently for results (two whole days!). It's hard to go race and not know for two days afterward how you did. Weird.

So, I think I have to give up on the idea of trying to beat the gal I want to beat, she blew me out of the water by at least 30 seconds, despite the fact I rode about 30 seconds faster than last week. Ryan was a minute and a half faster this week (WOW), but placed LOWER in his category than last week. Wha??!!?? Well, at least he can feel good about personal improvement. The results are here:
http://www.obra.org/results/2007/weekly/eugene_tt/april_10.html#2
The times are all faster than they should be by at least 30 seconds. Timing error on the part of the race officials.

Hmmmm. How can I get faster? Well, despite the fact Ryan and I got to the race 15 minutes earlier this time, they still gave us relatively late start times, and late start times=cooler air=harder for me to breathe. If I could start around 6:30 I'd be better off asthma-wise. Would it make much of a difference? Probably not that much, but I would feel better. I also haven't been serious about getting all the proper gear for time trials: aero wheels, skin suit, pointy alien-head helmet. That just ups the complexity to a whole new level, which I don't wanna deal with right now. But it would make me faster; could I be 30 seconds faster? A minute faster? Alternatively, I could just ride harder (ouch).

My stress levels this week have been out the roof--trying to work on school (and trying my advisor's patience), music performance in public and a big bike race on Saturday. Plus, the voice in my head has been on a constant loop "you're not riding enough ... you're not riding enough." Gotta learn how to shut that off. Did I mention I have poison oak? Not helping.

On the bright side, got my mandolin restringed the other day and it cost me $7: $3 for the strings, $4 for the labor. I may never string another instrument again. It takes me at least 30 minutes to restring my guitar, and I'd gladly pay someone else $4 to do it for me. And my mando sounds great. Why didn't I buy one of these babies years ago?

So much for the short post. Someday I might try to put some pictures in here. Bye.

Training training training training training

2007-04-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

So ... official results from the time trial; my "arch nemesis" beat me by 7 seconds. Home course advantage, I'd say. Follow this link for results. P.S. I'm a cat 3 now!

http://www.obra.org/results/2007/weekly/eugene_tt/april_3.html#4

I've been putting in a lot of training time lately, but this coming week is a week off, so I'll only be riding for about 8 hours (about half of what I typically do). This includes another time trial on Tuesday and a tough road race on Saturday. It's good I'll be riding less 'cause it will give me more time to practice for "Girl's Music Night"; my friends and I are playing Saturday night at a bar! We're opening for another band, and I'll be playing my mandolin. All I can really do so far is strum, but that's good enough for now.

Today we went on a long mountain bike ride, although it turned out to only be about 2.5 hours--but it felt great and so much fun to not be on the road for a change. I felt the "flow" for a little while. When you get in the flow, you cease to react to things mentally--your body and your bike just do what needs to be done in perfect harmony. It's truly living in the moment, and feels like a drug, so damn good.

Oh, and last week I went on another ride with the guys from Ryan's bike shop, and I was able to keep up with one of the strongest guys when we sprinted for a stop ahead sign. I don't know where my strength came from, but maybe it was because the guy hasn't been eating in order to lose weight. Who am I to not exploit a weakness? I bet he's back to eating again.

Sufferfest 101

2007-04-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight I raced in a time trial, which is more of an individual bike race. Riders are sent out every 30 seconds and go as hard as they can for a given distance. Tonight we went for 15 miles, and I averaged around 22 mph (took me about 41 minutes). It pretty much hurts the whole time.

Good strategy is to try to chase down the guy or gal in front of you. I also used aero bars (like what triathletes use) that let me stay in a tuck, except I put one on too loosely and it started to move on me. Which is kindof scary since the tuck isn't that stable of a position anyway and all your weight is on the aero bars. Add to that a cold headwind, near dark conditions, and uncertainty about where the course went. I'm betting next time will be faster. And I will get three more chances--this race is part of a four race series, same time, same place each week. I hope it gets warmer--better for my asthma.

By the way, Ryan finished in about 38 minutes (about 24 mph average), only 2 minutes and 1 mph off his goal. He makes it look so easy.

I have a blog

2007-04-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

So ... in an effort to keep family (i.e. mom and dad) posted on my racing, I thought it might be easier to keep a blog on races and results. Might also give a little taste of what it's like to race bikes and train to race bikes, especially when one is trying to do other things in life in addition to racing.