We Are Getting Dumber...Part 1

We are getting dumber as a species. I can prove it.

Example #1 of what I'm sure will be many:

Evan and I are going to make pumpkin risotto as a part of our tasty lamb dinner. We need pumpkin. Easy, right? Um, no.

I went to the store to buy a pumpkin (should be plentiful, given the season) and couldn't see any in the produce section. I went to ask one of the employees in said produce section (they are using twelve-year-olds now, by the way) where they were. Here's how the conversation went:

ME: Hi. Do you have any pumpkins?

GroceryStoreKid: Sure

ME: Cool. Can you tell me where they are?

GroceryStoreKid: Yeah. Aisle five.

ME: [thinking: wait a minute, that's where the canned stuff is...] No, not canned. Whole pumpkins.

GroceryStoreKid: Oh. It's after Halloween. We don't keep those. Why would you want one after Halloween?

ME: Um...to cook with.

GroceryStoreKid: You can eat pumpkins?

ME: Yeah. How the hell do you think it ends up in the cans?

GroceryStoreKid: Oh that stuff is just orange potatoes and sugar.

ME: [blink, blink, blink...is this kid fucking with me???]

At this point, I realize he's serious. He really does think pumpkins are inedible, and that canned pumpkin is just orange potatoes and sugar. Oh god. Time to back away and find "Plan B".

Unfortunately, this risotto recipe looks hellishly good and I really want - no, NEED pumpkin for it. Fresh, yummy pumpkin. I am actually contemplating swiping the uncarved pumpkins off my neighbor's porch, but it's not dark yet so that won't work.

Hmmmmm......

South Africa

Okay. We have to be honest...neither one of us wanted to come home. The photo above is from the terrace at the restaurant where we had lunch on our last day in South Africa. Can you blame us for not wanting to leave?

After my last post we went to Kruger National Park for a few days. It was a two hour flight to Johannesburg and then a six hour drive to the lodge where we stayed. Um...we didn't know about the six hour drive part. But the scenery on the way there was nice. Take a look:


Once we got to Kruger we were able to see some amazing animals...Elephants, giraffe, rhinos, and the highlight of the day: a lion and three cubs. Once you have seen these animals in the wild, the zoo will never be the same!




We spent our last few days in Kalk bay and touring the Cape Winelands. We stayed at an unbelievable little guesthouse up on the hill and the view from our room was amazing:

We took two tour days with a guide to show us the best wineries the region had to offer, and they were both WONDERFUL! We spent our first day with Lesley of Amber Tours, and she took us to eight wineries. Yes, eight. We can be impressive when it comes to wine :)

On our last full day in South Africa we made our way down to Simon's Town on the train to do some shopping, and then walked to Boulder Beach to see the penguins. There is a colony of 3000 African penguins living there, and they are hilarious to watch!


The next day we piled all our luggage into a van and set off for one more day of wine tasting, this time with Pam of Cape Fusion Tours. Our flight didn't leave Cape Town until 11 pm so we had plenty of time to enjoy several more wineries. South African wine is so under-appreciated here in the US, we're going to make a point to try to get more people exposed to it. It's wonderful! Using a guide is by far the best way to visit the wineries of the Cape. We would never have found half of these places had we not been with Pam and Lesley.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and we boarded our flight full of wine and great food that evening. (Which, by the way, was a miserable flight - horrible. Don't even get me started). Sigh.

I want to go back. NOW.

Inverdoorn Game Reserve - Karoo Region

Just a few photos from our stay at Inverdoorn. Incredible place! We saw cheetahs RUNNING! We're in Johannesburg tonight and off to Kruger National Park for a three day safari. Kruger is one of the largest national parks on the face of the earth - it's a little bigger than the Netherlands.

I'll post more photos as I get a chance. For now, enjoy.

Cape Town, South Africa

We're here in Cape Town, and we're loving it!

We went to Table mountain today, but when we got there we discovered that the cable cars that take people up to the top weren't running yet. While we were walking around the base station, waiting, we saw that there was a trail... So in typical Evan & Megan fashion, we hiked up...ALL the way up. It was VERY steep, more of a climb than a hike, but it turned out to be one of the coolest things we've done.

We finished up the day with sunset on a sailboat...and Evan was thrilled he didn't have to drive it!

More later...day three up next!

Call it a Season

28 races (in seven states) , 21 top ten finishes, nine podium appearances (including two at nationals) and two wins.

It makes me tired just thinking about it.

It's time to close the book on the '09 racing season. It's been one of my best yet. I got to ride for Team Kenda, one of the coolest teams out there with the best sponsors, support, and teammates anybody could ask for. I met a TON of new people. And I got to discover all the joys of track racing. I also learned a lot.

So here's what's next for me: In the very near future (in a little more than two weeks actually) Evan and I will be celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. We're going on a trip we've been waiting, well, ten years to take. The last two week vacation we took was our honeymoon in the Florida Keys. This time, we're going a bit further...Cape Town, South Africa to be exact. We plan to hike and cycle and do everything we can possibly cram into the time we have there. I'm not afraid to admit it's part of the reason I'm shutting down the racing a little earlier than I had intended. Too exciting! That and the fact that it would be just my luck to break a bone or something in a race three days before we leave. Not cool. I'm happy to have gotten through the race season with only the broken shoulder in February, and nothing else since. Let's not tempt fate, shall we?

This winter I will be learning to run. Those of you who know me best will know that I hate, I mean hate, running. But it will make me a better rider, especially with what I plan to do next race season. I plan to work my guts out this winter getting my power back up and focusing my efforts almost entirely on track racing, some crits, and a few time trials. The NSC velodrome is six hours away but worth every minute of the drive. I want to earn an upgrade and go back to Nationals next year better prepared. Gone from my 2010 race schedule are the long road races...the training required for those takes away too much from my track/crit prep. Oh there will still be plenty of crit racing, especially the fun ones like Chicago, Quad Cities, and the Tour of Lawrence Street Sprints if they do them again. (That was a BLAST!) There are others on there as well, but mostly I will be spending my time on the track.

So that's my plan for the near future. I'm happy with my 2009 season and excited for what's coming up in 2010. When I started riding three years ago, I never thought I would end up where I am right now. It's a cool feeling. I'm not that thrilled about the running part but at least I know it will be for a good reason. I'll just spend my treadmill time thinking about how much stronger I'll be next year.

I'm sure this means I will need to buy more bike stuff...

(By the way, extra-special thanks to Megan Hottman and her family for the podium photo above.)

Blogger Slacker Lady

Yup. That's me. I suck at keeping my blog up to date. I'm even getting emails about it.

Okay so here's the deal: I'm in Colorado for my last race of the season (see photo below), and the last few weeks have been NUTS. I'll update you all as soon as I get home. Promise. There's lots going on and lots to tell you all, but you're gonna have to wait just a few more days.

Until then, enjoy the weather while it's good!

Wayward Grass-Cutter Thingy

I'm guessing this post will make Evan laugh. Mostly because he's not the one who has to deal with it, and that these things always seem to happen to me when he's gone.

So in my pre-race/sorta rest day ritual, I ended up doing two things I hate. In the same day. One is laundry; Don't get me started. The other is mowing. I learned to hate, really hate, mowing when we lived in Houston. Down there grass grows like jungle thatch and if you don't mow it at LEAST twice a week, it will eat you. No, really. It will. Maybe your house too.

So to combat this little environmental challenge, we bought one of those nifty self propelled mowers. It was nice. Really nice. Pushing a mower through thick, deep grass in 110 degree heat sucks. You're almost dead before you've even hit the end of the drive way. Did I mention that it sucks?

I digress.

So we brought this little gem to Nebraska when we moved back, and it's nice to have because our yard is both hilly and lumpy. The back wheels are driven by the mower itself, and the front ones swivel and bounce around just where you need them. It's a neat system.

Three weeks ago, I decided to clean up the mower a bit, since the area around the blade was getting caked with grass clippings and mud, etc. Since this event, however, strange things have been happening. It got a little worse the first time I used it after being cleaned, but this week was weird. I can only imagine what was going through the neighbors' heads when they saw me mowing.

The mower now drives itself sideways. I kid you not.

Now, I am a very mechanically inclined person. Thanks to my dad, I can listen to a car and pretty much tell you with reasonable certainty what is wrong with it by the sounds it makes. But I have no idea what the hell is happening here. The wheels are still being propelled by the mower's drive system, but at two different speeds. This is only really awkward when you initially set the thing in motion. It jumps around before settling into a nice smooth path, albeit a sideways one. It put some funky lines in the front yard too. I might just call it art.

My official analysis: I made the thing angry by cleaning it. Seriously, it's the only explanation I can come up with that makes sense. Either that or Chupacabra (Central American version of Bigfoot, known for attacking goats) has made his way into our garage and screwed with the mower just to screw with me. Personally I wouldn't have thought Chupacabra would own all the necessary hand tools to accomplish this little task, but then again he could have just borrowed mine.

By now, I am certain Evan has shot at least half a cup of hot coffee through his nose reading this, because I know he's got the correct images in his head. And he's laughing. Lots.

TT to TT

Last weekend was the NE state TT championships. I love this course, and I love time trialing, but for some reason, I sucked that day. I missed my target time by four minutes, (although two of those minutes were probably lost when I got blown off the side of the road by a pickup) and just didn't ride anywhere near the way I usually do. I think some of it was the wind...I break down mentally when I have a tailwind for the first half of the course. I'm sure I will fix that though.


Lucky for me, I have a chance to redeem myself. July 18, at the Cornhusker State Games. Same course, but I will be looking to hit my original target time, minus two minutes just because I'm pissed, shaving a total of six minutes off my time from last weekend. I'm going to do it, dammit. Even if it kills me.

It probably will.

But I am also going to be racing soon. A LOT. Am I going to see any of you at these races?

6/18 - Thursday Night Lights Track Racing - Blaine, MN
6/25 - Thursday Night Lights Track Racing - Blaine, MN
6/27 - Tour of KC - Lee's Summit Criterium - Kansas City, KS
7/3-7/5 - Tour of Lawrence - Lawrence, KS
7/9 - Thursday Night Lights Track Racing - Blaine, MN
7/11-7/12 – Omaha Cycling Weekend – Omaha, NE
7/16 - Thursday Night Lights Track Racing - Blaine, MN
7/18 – Cornhusker State Games – Yutan NE
7/23 - Superweek - Racine.org Criterium - Racine, WI
7/24 - Superweek - Chase Foods Folks & Spokes - Kenosha, WI
7/26 – Chicago Criterium - Chicago, IL
8/9-Tour of KC Overland Park Criterium – Overland Park, KS
8/18-8/23 - Masters Track Nationals - Colorado Springs, CO
9/4-9/7 - Gateway Cup - St. Louis, MO

I would love to see you out there!

State Criterium Championships - Norfolk

This photo was taken just as all hell was breaking loose.

Luckily, Evan had the good sense to put the camera in the car. It had started to rain in about the third lap of our race. By lap six, it was coming down so hard you couldn't see more than a few feet in front of you. By lap ten, we were joined by marble-sized hail. I've got deep rims: 404s to be exact, and in a few places, the water was so deep it was over the rims and up to the spokes. Did I mention that it was barely 50 degrees out? In June?

I sat up and just decided to finish the race without breaking anything on myself or the bike. That turned out to be a good thing, because even if I had decided to stop, I wouldn't have been able to. The brakes were wet and useless.

As if to add insult to the situation, as soon as our race ended, so did the rain. Joy. My back and arms were stinging for hours after the race from the hail, and everyone else got to race in conditions that were merely soggy instead of biblical. So not fair.

It feels like the weather robbed me of a chance to really race this weekend. Oh well. State TT championships are next weekend and I can focus on that.

Capitol City Criterium

I like this race. A LOT.

There were nine of us (I think) that lined up to start the Women's Open at the Capitol City Crit, back on after a six-year hiatus. It was SO cool to race near the state capitol. The race was hard and fast from the gun with Janna and Kim lighting it up right away. I went with them, and stayed there for three or four laps. There was a brutal false flat/headwind along the finishing straight of the 8-corner course, and it made it difficult if not impossible to hold your ground unless you were in a group. I dropped back to pick up some help from Anna and Molly. We worked the course together for the rest of the race, mixing it up only for the prime sprint. I got a chance to try out some of the things I have been learning at the track, and it's starting to make a difference. I picked up the prime and went back to the grind, hoping to save enough to break on the bell lap.

My gamble worked.

Coming into the straight on the bell lap, I went. Hard. Time to test the track/TT legs. I managed to open a gap and not think about the fact that I was taking the corners hard. Almost recklessly. I stayed out front to pick up 3rd overall and prize money to boot. (The photo above is me finishing...and hurting...lots.) But I've decided that I have been riding way too conservatively in races lately. Some of that is probably due to breaking my shoulder. But it is time to put that aside and just ride. That's my plan from here on out.

Next week is the Norfolk Classic. The State Championship crit in downtown Norfolk is one of my very favorites, and the people at Elkhorn Valley Cycling really know how to put on a race. After that, it's the State Championship Time Trial, and then, perhaps, a rest. Perhaps not. I'm still making plans for the rest of my race season (yeah, yeah, I know...it's getting late for that) but I'll let you know what I come up with. For now, just go ride your bike.

Just a few photos from the Track...

Evan came with me to track training up in Minneapolis this week. He took some cool pics too. My brain can't write today so I'm going to post these instead. We did a lot of sprints/standing starts/ time trial work. If you can't tell, it was cold.


On a completely different topic, how many of you am I going to see at the Capitol City Crit this weekend??

Quad Cities Crit

Holy crap that was fast.

This post is going to be quick and lazy. I'm tired and Evan is cooking, and my dinner trumps my blog posting. Sorry.

Long story short: I ended up 15th in a big, fast field at Quad Cities. A ridiculous pace was set from the very start, and we kept it up all the way to the end. I'm much happier about how I rode today as opposed to how I rode last year. Still have a lot of work to do though.

Tomorrow is a rest day. So I am spending it helping my family yank out dead and/or dying trees. Not the cross-training I was hoping for but what the hell. Then we go back up to Minneapolis for track training. I get to take Evan with me this time, too. COOL! I'll try to talk him in to taking some pics.

More later. I'm hungry....