iron...

i've been working myself up to this for a while. still haven't registered.
i've competed countless times in the pool, i've never in my life been in a bike race. i'm normally the paparazzi in the kalmia, shooting photos down the trail. seems to me, if you're gonna enter something for a fee - minus well bring with it one hell of a challenge. cause it's not like my eye's on the prize - i just want to walk my bike across those 2 final cross boards and finish!

ry suggested i practice running my bike up spruce gap this weekend. rara - suggested running and 'oh you'll be fine' - it's a fun course. then there's g-dogg style is just jumpin in and running a marathon cold turkey so according to him, i'm ahead of the game. lab colleagues like sean told me 'don't wimp out!'. anyone know how to ride through sand and maintain yourself in the upright position? or how bout - finishing a 62 mile cross ride with 6000+ feet o' climbing :), rocky single and double track and logs?

2 weeks to get the legs cooled off and warmed up for the ascent. and the countdown begins. wish me luck! i'm gonna need it in mass quantities. that is, if i register :)

wherever you go, there you are

i woke up before dawn to hit the trail before work. the trailhead was on the other side of the park. a lone coyote crossed my path and went on its way. while the sun hid behind the magnificent rock, this landscape was still his own, atleast until the rest of the tourists awoke. the trail was dusty and littered with rounds of smooth granite. darkness slowly lifted, the air was still. glowing views of rising sunlit rock - spectacular. not a sole there - a few hours straight and a few thousand feet of elevation later, i met the peak. sparsely vegetated with coniferous forest. the sun was just rising above half-dome.


Confronting height fears, i looked down - heart racing - fully realizing my own mortality. a moment of complete and profound self-awareness. fears, thoughts and emotions were reflected in the pool of water rushing over the edge. i saw friends' smiles, family's support, crazy dog's high-pitches whine - i recognized mentorship found, opportunity for growth and knowledge; i felt my own love, trust and loyalty - in that moment there was no need to share. i felt solitude and peace with each chest-filling breath of inner reflection.

3,000 miles from the place i live, from the house i own, from the bed i sleep in and the job that provides food, shelter and independence. 3,000 miles away from friends and family, 7,000 feet above sea level. the world was silent, the air light and mind at ease; this is where i discovered home.

The discovery was accompanied by a rush of warm thoughts; everyone and everything that i know and love. everything that makes me whole. It was all inside. Carried with me all the way up to the top and thus wherever i go. It is with this strength that i ventured on, down the cliff of the falls. Every so often I'd stop and gaze over the sharp edge. The world was still asleep. The coyote, retreating to his den. The view - still spectacular. Realized freedom in knowing home, is wherever i am - at that particular time; with this confidence and self-awareness, i'll never need to rebuild. Material or not though, I still miss the view. Soon enough, i'll be back.

google ads

If you haven't ever noticed, Google has devised an ingenious way to advertise and make money through their ever-so-popular webmail application - GMAIL. GMAIL, is, without a doubt, one of the better mail providers out there... easy to use, seamless integrated chat, and multi-browser supported. it hardly goes down and when it does - it's temporary. Yes, it's impressive, as is the ongoing ad-campaign that uses text directly from our messages to generate customized targeted ads.

It is no surprise that they are collecting data - lots of data on us. I mean, naturally they're giving us gigs of storage space - nothing in life is free! They're tracking our progress with google documents, they're tracking our daily life schedules with google calendar, they're tracking our interests via search keywords and cookies in google search, they're tracking our trips and travels in google maps, they're tracking our musings and thoughts and interactions / friends via blogger, google desktop lets them into our hard drives and last, but hardly least, they're tracking our most intimate conversations via im and chat with google mail.

this is fact. i figure if they really want to read about potty training alberto, my craving for thai food, or need for new shorts, or apparent general inability to appropriately apologize - on a tshirt - let em! - (see below). i'm a blade of grass in an ever expanding, permanently conditioned meadow. there's no succession going oh here people (atleast not yet). it's a dog eat dog world and atleast google is a stand-up business putting out excellent applications for minimum user cost. (sketchup, google earth, google maps, google search, gmail, blogger, etc, etc).

So, for entertainment's sake i have begun to take note of some of the ads that appear in various conversations with my friends via GMAIL. The more i notice, the funnier (and more sad) it becomes. Have a look below at a few:

ruk - i guess lil' alberto (yes, after contador!!! gdogg the pro tour watching BIKE GEEK!) needs some help in the potty training department. Which brings me to my next question - does any dog really use the potty? i think not.


Ms Gretta - LEFT - guess i need to learn how to say i'm sorry on a tshirt?? i think, i missed an im one day and responded with an 'i'm sorry'. perhaps i didn't exude the "love" that a real friend should... google didn't think my response was enuf. perhaps i need practice. RIGHT: guess we were both hungry that day for 'ethnic' food that day :)

Slackass - i think i need to hook you up with lasik, a life empowerment coach and a sweet cross rig to tour on. actually that doesn't sound like such a bad deal...

B - no surprises here!! and even STILL my hero.

Dragana - i'm still working on this one. apparently i need to both apologize (not on a t-shirt tho), and get her some cheap, orbiting soy-based snacks. your guess is as good as mine.

GDOGG!! ok so he may need some new shorts after the spill 2nite (nothing worse than seein a friend go down in front of you)... i'm not sure how cacao moon associates with a garden gnome, but perhaps he needs to add it to his single-source chocolate cacao moon logo. i don't even know what a pygmy angel is so... i guess i'll leave that one be for now.

Pamela - apparently we are both hungry and fixin' to cook something up gluten free for breakfast! oh yea!

what is most amusing about google is how it selects words. In the body of a rather long email, it may just pick words from the final sentences. Or perhaps from the subject. be entertained. And then think - the next time you use a google app - about the information they are gathering - on you! interesting.

a cohort....

atleast favre just made a last minute... indecision... decision. he still is a badass QB.
But this. yea we've all been following it for some time... but now it's unavoidable - spotlighted on the CNN home page via endorsement ads. did Lance not see what went down with deion in his comeback attempt? is he destined to follow the same reality TV route?

next year's tour will be interesting. not that i'll watch.
maybe i'll catch "the armstrongs" pII tho on VH1, or better yet, Oxygen. then again that would require turning on the TV.
on second thought - maybe i'll stick to riding my own bike and avoiding the TV. Yea, that's a much better plan.

but wait, there's more...

Back For More - the ridge revisited

So continuing the previous post... at the gas line after a nice long hike. the next day, i discovered a plethora of animal crackers left at my doorstep upon arriving home from the am's adventure in the woods surveying trees. 1-tree, 2-trees, 3-trees, 5-trees. Oops. my bad. 8- trees. No really I can count. Actually the greatest challenge of tree ID is figuring out the really tall ones - they are 300yrs+ old around sunset park! Bark ID is a challenge with many, and the crowns appear to consist of multiple species - um yes that's one of those ash / hickory hybrids.

class let out around 10:45 and i rushed home to get ready for a ride. this was the first saturday in weeks that I was free early enough to actually enjoy part of the day on my own clock! (this work / school thing is EXHAUSTING! that's another blog altogether). I met up with a friend who i hadn't seen in months to ride. We took mtn bikes out bear meadows and explored around detweiler and thickhead (which is sketchy now given the intense construction but ridable... coming back treaster I was itching for more time on the bike after a long week so i made a very silly decision.

i decided to tackle the ridge.

i'm not sure why i thought after riding and climbing for a few hours that this was a good idea given the fact that:

1. my legs were sore from power yoga friday AM
2. and sore from a few hours of hiking friday
3. AND sore from a really intense cross ride wed
4. and i was generally exhausted from a hellish work week / school including a 16+hr work day thursday
   

the only thoughts in my mind were:

a. i'm out in the woods and on my bike and not working- YAY
b. I have an ample supply of animal crackers. (most important!)
c. i have shiny pink new sunglasses (not polarized but they're still sweet!) :)

afterall, what else does a girl really need besides her thoughts, animal crackers, pink shades and a bike?

i had never ridden this trail before, and wasn't sure what to expect given my novice mtn skills but up camp road i went. i road through my first "stream" (cough i swear i leaped over the stream - sorry to insult the leave no tracers whome i generally support)...and onward i went. the trail up the powerline to the ridge is now pipeline territory - completely torn up... so a trampled path through dense blueberry thickets was that of least resistance. i made it to the top and felt OK so onward I went.

expectations

The ridge is not only a beautiful place to ride and hike... It's also damn technical - atleast compared to anything else i've done before. I was tired but energized by the views, cool breeze, bright blue sky and red tails kiting over the valley searching for food.

I generally get frustrated with myself on trails. Given I spent most of my teen and college years training at an intense, high level, I expect a lot of myself and am my own hardest critic. While climbing is purely aerobic conditioning that i can easily build upon, trails require a particular recipe of strength (no problem) and technique (challenge) with a little bit of courage and a lot of confidence whisked into the pot; i find the confidence and courage most difficult and slow to acquire. that's just me.

The bottom line is I really enjoy being on trails; I love being on the bike. It's all for me. So I decided to take my time, accept defeat when the obstacle was too overwhelming, take full props when something was cleared and enjoy the ride.

I taught myself how to ride over some rocks! I jumped off the bike - a lot - and was OK with that. I scratched up my already bruised left leg some more adding some nice RED skin to the purple and green swelling that was already there (ouch!).

This ride with a group may have resulted in serious frustration for me. But solo - yesterday - after working on a saturday morning - i felt i earned it. I had all of the time in the world in the afternoon; I was on an amazingly beautiful trail in the forest; AND I was on my bike - alone - and loving it.

i finished the trail deliriously tired and content - with an empty baggy of animal crackers. The bottom line of riding the bike for me is - it just is damn fun. AND I enjoy the challenge it presents. And the fitness that it brings without "training" as i once did.

the reality of that bike is that it's the one thing I can always count on to lift spirits and alleviate tension.

i woke up this morning - tired and sore. hungover from a really long week. but i was still content with yesterday's ride... and thus able to spend the day reading - focused on the bigger goal ahead - this damn degree. and of course in the short term, getting through yet another week filled with - school - work - another 16 hr (hopefully shorter) teaching day - and more rides and hikes to make it all seem manageable and worth it.

time to buy a new pair

While working in the woods yesterday, i lost my favorite (and only) riding shades. Upon realizing they were gone, I went back to search in a hopeless effort given we were off the trail and in the dense understory all morning.

A colleague in the class offered to help. it was kind as I think he realized how frustrated I was. When we didn't find them (well i decided to give up), he said

well it's ok cause now you get to go pick out new ones!

my initial response was, as always these days, negative.

ugh, they were expensive.

then I got to thinking. he is totally right. Yea, I do hate shopping, BUT I do have a job. I can buy a new, cooler pair. Maybe they'll fit better. Maybe, they'll look better. Maybe i'll like them more and be happier. Maybe there was an element of fate involved. Maybe I wasn't supposed to wear those shades this winter cause they woulda broken or i woulda crashed and gotten cut by the lenses. Maybe, the timing was all wrong.

Damn, why didn't I think of this sooner?
Half-full / half empty. So many ways to apply. I need to start taking the half-full approach to life and stop being so damn negative. About everything. So out with the old and in with the new I went... my new pair is shiny and pink :)

back to reality

It's all about the A - (nimal Crackers that is)

Yes, I''ll admit it. I'm addicted. Only those closest to me know - but now I guess the cat's out of the bag . Animal crackers are up there with - popcorn, strawberries, jelly candy, tomatoes and peas in the all time best and most favorite foods. if you can't appreciate them to their fullest, we may not get along. Today, arriving home after my weekly field study in the forest - anticipating my afternoon ride, i was greeted by the above 2 plastic containers overflowing with bears, and elephants. (THANK YOU SLACKASS! YOU ROCK!). I immediately dove in (note right container) and filled a baggy for the afternoon's adventure. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

And then they were purple

The war zone that is my shins and upper calves has taken an interesting twist. As the healing is progressing to the point I can almost sleep comfortably, and the swelling is just about null, the color is now developing to the point where I get comments on my bike. While one may think this suggests general "bad-assed-ness" (a word in the great slackass dictionary of words we think should exist) to me, it suggests inability to handle my rig. ugh. then again - lack of handling skills is my current forte so maybe it's time to accept my strengths in life and move on.

I was preparing for class thursday - an all day 8 hours worth of fun in the burg lead by yours truly, and contemplating if I could get away with wearing a skirt. Professionalism is key when students are paying 400 dollars a piece to listen to you for the day. Sadly enough, being a girl who contemplates color and design on a daily basis, i found myself contemplating what shoes and outfits best complemented, hid and highlighted the wounds. We have the chunky platform sandles, the wrap up espinadas, spiky high healed boots...

yea, i wore slacks.

The day was long - given the driving and bumper to bumper traffic in and around the city - but the end result - rewarding. Nearly half of the class thanked me at the end of the day with complements about my teaching style, patience (it was a beginner class) and presentation clarity. A few asked me if i had formal training or if I would teach in the future.

I can add another forte to my list - bad handling skills and GOOD teaching. If there's one thing I know I can do in this world, it's teach.

Life on the Ridge

My dear friend Pamela and I traversed the ridge w/dogs & sweet lil Luisa - who's eyes are still the most amazing shade of blue (just like moms!). I figured i'd earned a half day friday after my 430am-9pm work day on thursday. (waking up friday was harsh). It was nice to catch up as it had been a while AND also nice to enjoy the forest with good company.

The sad part about the ridge is there's no way to hike it in a loop without time on the road. The amazing part about the ridge is it never fails to amaze. The burned areas are particularly striking - I can remember when the fire came through just a few years ago. The understory is a thicket of blueberry (a great place to snack in the late summer) and a healthy population of pioneering striped maple (A. pennsylvanicum). it grows fast and is opportunistically claiming its turf on the ridge.

GAS

Get your head out of the toilet! we're talking natural folks (actually i'm not sure what we're talking but it's a grand scale, ultra-destructive project). Dominion is hiring by the way in case you're up for some weekend trench digging. I've been closely monitoring the gas line work for 2 months now. The most impressive vantage points are without a doubt the bottom of treaster-kettle looking to the LEFT if you're descending towards Colyer. AND - if you want a real experience - go to the top of Kettle Rd via Coopers Gap and look down - on either side. DAMN.

A tremendous amount of money is obviously invested in this project with full-force weekend activity.


The degree to which they've clear cut / dug up and destroyed a good chunk of the forest is clearly illustrated above.


To be continued...

so close

today's events in bullet format

1. talked to b for a while and realized sometimes a guy's opinion is incredibly grounding. guys think differently from girls. we lean towards emotion and understanding (much needed). a blunt and to the point - "stop it" - accompanied by a good slap of reality was needed today. thanks b. ps. you're still my hero.
   
2. disagreeing (in my mind) with my prof in class. he says - polyploidy supports a genetically similar population. However i was convinced he was discussing autopolyploidy only and not considering allopolyploidy. i didn't want to voice my thoughts and be wrong ... but i'm still fairly convinced i'm right. can a phd be wrong? i'm not there yet so i just don't know :)
3. realized i'm still not sure exactly where my project is going even though i managed to narrow down a topic and geographic area in a relatively short period of time. this is hard!
   
4. i realized it's ok to take as much alone time as i need - and that my friends will understand and be there when i emerge from my cocoon. inner strength and security is most important and allows all healthy relationships to evolve.
   
5. almost ran over a fuzzy squirrel. he darted out in front of me on my way up laurel run and just made it between the wheels. i screamed, heart racing, anticipating taking the little guy out. i swear i felt his little fuzzy tale on my calf. oh the guilt i would feel had i hit him.
6. realized that while bear gap really isn't a very long or hard climb - it's much harder on the legs the second time up. (it's fun once in a ride so i figured, why not twice?)
7. Saw an incredible sunset at the overlook. the sky has been spectacular the past few days give all the moisture in the air.
   
8. saw a BEAUTIFUL sharp-shinned hawk descending north meadows.
9. almost ran over another chippy coming down bear meadows (i yelled at him - PLEASE NO! NOT AGAIN! :))
10. realized my cross rig needs a serious tuning and wheel true... it's noisy to the point my headphones can't always drone it out.
    
11. saw a SWEET 325XI WAGON (where the heck did they find an XI wagon in the US???) in the tussey lot with one lonely bike rack tray. oh how it pleaded to me for a second (rack). it had stickers on it suggesting a young owner or a middle aged, mid-life crisis driven man (on second thought - a true mid-life crisis calls for THIS PUPPY. nice.) - wonder if mom and dad bought it or if it was a self-investment. who knows in this town.
12. spent more time reading about polyploidy... yea i still think i'm right. and YES i'm a geek. **correction - i'm wrong but the mechanism, as described in class resulting in genetic uniformity is was described in a way that I understood as wrong. Thank you text book.
    

my bruises are developing nicely and are now a deep shade of purple. the one on my upper calf / shin is still swollen and hurts enough to make rocks uncomfortable if not a bit painful to ride on the cross... i was thus uninspired to climb gettis today... maybe later this week. i've decided that the imprint on my right shin is actually from my own bike's front tire being shoved into my leg (i must have unclipped with that leg as i tend to do). the bruising and discomfort is all on the left side which is where he must have actually slammed me. and so goes my forensic powers of deduction, this story sounds plausable as opposed to the gumby bike that hit me from both sides.

when you're good, you're good.

the end.

congratulations!

if you haven't already heard - READ HERE.
Congratulations CK and Drew!!! :)
No one deserves it more! :)

raging

winds this evening are gusting.
some consider this noise - shut the windows and lock the doors.
I am soothed.

i'd rather hear wind-torn branches fall - than endure silence.
feel any pain inflicted by subsequent damage, now - rather than run and be numb.
with silence lies an unpredictable and potentially volatile future.
hear now, feel now - let the pieces fall into place later.

i (heart) hawks

Tis the season for ... no not silly bells and reindeer... not carved and soon to be rotting pumpkins and ridiculous costumes...

tis the season for HAWKS - en masse - to begin their annual pilgrimage down south - to avoid the chilly drafts and barren trees.. if only i could be so lucky... They follow thermal air belts that peak around this time through October and then slowly die / begin to cool. Here in the Ridge and Valley, currents bounce off or ridge tops and sink into lowlands, creating smaller scale patterns, that also affect how many birds one may see on any given day. feast of famine!

Being early in the season, it's time for the Broad Wings to soar. Braod wings are known to travel in kettles upwards of 100 deep! livin' large and flyin' high, there is no doubt they are true beauties.

A few Ospreys can be seen this time of the year in addition to many bald eagles... with the occassional sharp shinned and coopers. Ospreys are easy to pick out from a distance by their long, graceful "m" shaped wings and smooth glide...

If only i had brought with me a tripod and then a few thousand dollars to purchase a 400MM VR lens with a teleconverter... perhaps I would gain clarity in my pix... a girl can dream i guess :)



There were many red tails out, patrolling the valley for dinner. One decided to dive bomb the owl statue located on the observation platform. An incredible Sharp Shinned followed in his path. They are a smaller variety in the same Accipitridae family who move more quickly and have a higher cadence in their flight pattern. As pretty as they are, they are also aggressive as hell!

What's an afternoon in the ridge and valley without a few - DOZEN - turkey vultures. Of all ages. These guys are really curious and definitely wanted to check out the human activity around their turf.

The total count for the day - a few Osprey, one juvi bald eagle (was a spec in the distance), many red tails and vultures, one sharp shinned, a few ravens and many chimney swifts. And ofcourse the Monarchs are also beginning their flight down south and so they too were out en masse.

The top picture (ofcourse NOT MINE) is of a Golden Eagle - my most favorite of the Accipitridaes... perhaps even more majestic than the scarlet macaws (did i just type that?) these guys are unbelievable strong, and graceful with wingspans of up to 7-8 feet!!
I went to visit one in the Raptor Center at Shavers Creek and began to contemplate - as usual - the impacts of us humans on our environment.

this bird - was majestic. it spoke to me in it's 10x15 cage...

get me the hell outta here.

These birds are injured of course and taken in for care by the kind folks at the center. For one reason or another... post medical attention, they wouldn't be able to swing it in the wild - for example the resident broad winged had a full wing amputation - poor thing.

there is great value in education and outreach. For example, if people don't understand just how magnificent a bald eagle is, they will be less likely to support efforts to preserve their habitat. And unfortunately implementation of this concept involves placing birds in cages, with large bands and straps that they constantly trip on attached to each little pink-fleshed leg. (there are 2 bald eagles at shavers).

by taking these poor guys in and "rescuing them" are we sentencing them to a life in prison? (i'll say - yes) Unable to really ever fly and be free? (the flight cages there are TINY compared to the birds natural home range. then again, if i saw an injured hawk on the road, i wouldn't have the heart to keep going without assistance of some sort even though i would know the ultimate consequence of my actions.

Is "rescue and preserve" simply a selfish human construct - implemented because we, as a society, want to feel better about all of the realized damage we've done??

After all, we really don't know if there are larger cycles of environmental change that we just don't fully understand, at work. All we really do know is...

we like hawks. (atleast, i do)

if you ever wondered...

what happens when one bike collides into another...

here is how it goes - straight from the chickens, i mean horses, mouth.

first, you see the bike coming - straight at you.
then, you recognize that the only place you can go to dodge the approacher, is into the 2 ton SUV on your right. too bad both the drivers side and rear seats were full.
then you think - "oh, he'll certainly look up, see me and stop (he being the other bike)" - afterall, i'm at a stop sign barely moving (just beginning my left hand turn).
then you realize - he's not stopping.

i saw it coming in slow, unavoidable motion... CRAP.

i don't remember much... it's still a foggy haze. forensic evidence however tells me that he most likely was riding a 700ccx25 tire... thats what the tread looks like on my bruised to hell shin.

the other mystery is the series of bruises on my other leg. both a few inches long, i'd fit right into the women's football league (ok not really - i can't hang tough like jessefx). it looks badass tho.

believe it or not, i didn't fall! thank you, marshmallow weight. my initial reaction was "i hope my bike is ok". but alas, the stinging burn on both legs suggested that only bike-leah-skin contact was made. skin regenerates - spokes and steel - not so much.

he said "sorry", i bit my tongue, fought back tears (pain-induced and frustration) and road off - cautiously.

now i'm left with the soreness, i'm convinced I have a sweet case of whiplash in my right shoulder. I also gained purple swaths of bruised skin - a few inches radius in spots, an awesome tread tattoo, a bruised shin (into the bone the wheel went) and associated and equally if not moreso bruised ego (the worst part)

perhaps it's time to stop playing "dodge the students - how slow can i go without falling over, and how close can i get without taking one out"and to start planning my escape around class schedules on campus.

then again, what fun is that?

angry porcupine & marshmallow weight

It started as just another ride... a few hours after work to get out and relax before hitting the books... the ride started out smooth as i ascended laurel run. the goal for the day - make it up greenlee without stopping for air WITHOUT my inhaler. It seems any climb is possible, (at the right fitness level) without quickly going anaerobic to the point an inhaler is required. so up i went, pacing myself... and pacing... and then some more pacing... a good 4 miles of pacing in fact... i was just past the last switchbacks (where it quickly gets steep - ahhh my favorite part) and coming to the top when i saw, in the middle of the road - a ginormous porcupine.

He was just hanging out, enjoying time in his turf, but he was also seriously cramping my style. i stopped and looked.

our eyes met.

My game face was ON. (actually it was cool)

he decided to play badass - turned around and reared his quills - all 10 billion of them (you little jerk - i'm harmless, i swear).

OK, so this was my first, up close and person encounter with one of these guys. normally they're on the side of the road or off in the woods... he had NO intention of moving. I waited a little bit - hoping he would mosy on ... but quills up, he was standing his ground.

I looked at him, and politely asked him to move (the hell over motherfucker).

he read my mind - i think the left side insulted him. (the right side was wishing i had my camera, a hot cup of chai and a fuzzy sweatshirt)

I wasn't sure just how fast and far those puppies could fly and wasn't interested in finding out. As patience began to wear thin and an onset of chills arrived (always immediate body temperature drop after a climb), i threw some pebbles behind him hoping to encourage movement to the side of the road.

as showers of course gravel fell behind his spiny little ass, he finally began to move off to the side of the road - looking back at me STILL quills partially up. I have to admit, he was a cute little guy. it's just that I was cold, and didn't want to sit there all day as the sun was setting. i road on.

phew. I appreciate nature but come on guy... give a girl a break!

In other news, i've decided to gain back 10 pounds via the marshmallow diet. old habits die hard when up late night reading and studying. and they're just so darned good. marshmallows are fluffy so i figure 10 pounds of marshmallows will still keep me light and agile on the climbs... maybe that's why i often almost pop a wheelie on the top of the silly little washed out gravel hill in scotia that i clear maybe 10% of the time first try. yea - that must be it - no bike handling skills involved there. (keep telling yourself that)

and back to the books i go... too bad the marshmallow supply is depleted.