New Addition to the Top 3 All-Time Favorite Rides

I can't keep having these incredible rides, because then someone is going to get bumped out of the "Top 3 All-Time Best Rides Ever", and I don't want to insult anyone. Maybe I will just have to extend it to Top 5, then Top 10.....etc. and avoid the issue all together. So bring on the group rides!

The most recent addition was Pete's ride up in Marin.

Any ride can be great when you have beautiful roads, stunning scenery, and the kind of weather every roadie dreams of (70 degrees and sunny). Now add some of my favorite people, and this is when a ride kicks it up a notch to extra-ordinary, out-of-this-world, will-always-make-me-smile-when-I-remember-it kind of ride.

(This is the kind of smile I am talking about.) Beth and me.

Palaez joined us for the beginning third of the ride. I guess a fixie with a 38" doesn't really cut it

First Bakery Stop. Tomales.

Yes, Beth DID bring her tape measure on our ROAD ride.

Beth was tearing everyone's legs off, and this may or may not have been a town-line sprint victory.

A little video on one of Pete's favorite roads. There were a lot of cows and it was very green....were we in Vermont. No? Ok, just checking.
These views made me say "Can you believe it?! We actually live here!"

One big happy family.

Footage along the Bay.

I was told, "The People want More!!!"

I went on a blogging hiatus again. This time it was not due to laziness or computer unavailability. Instead, this time it is due to the fact that the first day of the Giro della Toscana, my camera was run over by a car.

Here is the scenario: In the race, it poured (and do not take the term "poured" here lightly, I actually think it was the most intense rain I have ever ridden in. It was as if someone continuously dumped buckets of water on your head and shot a garden hose in your face, because you couldn't see a thing! I stayed on the front :) ). So post-race we were dirty and dazed and, of course, we are changing in a parking lot, with all of our belongings sprawled everywhere. Well I was the lucky one to have my bag run over while a car maneuvered around the other bags. Low and behold, my camera was in that bag.

Hence, no pictures of:

Giro della Toscana

My mini-vacation in SLO and Laguna Beach

Track Nationals
and my off-season shenanigans

And since there are no pictures, there is no text.

Honestly, People, do you read what I write?

I am guessing: "No."

Lucky enough for me, I have the bumper-to-bumper warranty camera equivalent for 2 years. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the camera gets shipped back to me before another weekend of memorable moments.

Anyway, enough about how I dropped the ball. Someone had my back, and that would be Manuel, who brought out his camera for our San Francisco exploration two weeks ago.

And so the People get what they want:

For the first time I got to appreciate the beauty of the Golden Gate.

Manu and I debating if we are "going to do 'the idiot'".

Outside the Exploratorium that we didn't get to explore.....we were running late.

I made Gio roll down a hill, I was giggling too hard to stand up.

I found a rock, and apparently wanted to tell the whole world? (I am not quite sure what is going on here, but it looks fun.)

Rumor has it that Lucca has not seen precipitation since June, but yet it has been relentlessly raining (and by raining I mean "pouring") since last night. Add in the thunder and lightening that has been shaking the doors and then you have an idea of what our day has been like.

We were supposed to begin the day with a 10AM spin with the team. I was ready to go, despite the thunder and lightening, when the girls laughed in my face, reminding me that the roads have accumulated 3 months of diesel and now are as slick as an ice-skating rink. So I did some trainer time, for the first time since December.

My busy day: a fabulous salad for lunch (I think this is a hobby for cyclists: contriving tastey and creative salads), watched a couple episodes of "Mad Men" with my roommate, cleaned out my inbox on facebook (this is a big deal), sat on my computer, got a massage, and read. Interesting.

That pretty much sums it up. Thought I would give you an update before race start.

Tomorrow we kick of with a team time trial.

Una Buona Giornata in Italia

I had a really nice ride today. It started with a visit to the cafe for an incredible Italian cappuccino. I rode with Liza (fellow American racing for an Italian team based in the Lucca area), and a couple others for the first half of my ride. Then I went on a little exploration, which always happens when I find myself in new places.

This is one of the more noteworthy structures I saw:

I am also going to give myself a pat on the back. I struck up a conversation with a guy on our ride, and he said "Parli Italiano bene." I then went on to explain that I took Italian in college but have since forgotten how to speak for two reasons 1) the most common reason: "If you don't use it, you lose it" and 2) I have acquired a form of incomprehensible french at the expense of my Italian fluency.

Number 8 is a Charm

I am on my 8th ROAD bike of the year. And by that I mean: I have seriously trained or raced on 7 bikes previous to the current bicicletta. This does not include the multiple time trial bikes and track bikes I have ridden for a single race (if you want to count those, make it 12 or 13).

Anyway, check out my new rocket ship:

It is complete with:

Fenders for all weather conditions.

Pedal Powered Light: the more wattage you put in, the more wattage you get out. Fascinating.

A rear panier (this is not the definition I was looking for) (which isn't fool-proof considering my post-grocery mishap with my bag of apples in the middle of traffic).

Flat pedals so you can wear any comfortable footwear, but make sure it is fashionable.

Disc Brakes for superb handling.

One front chain ring to minimize user-error.

And what I believe is an electrical shifter for the rear.....too high-tech for me, I do not quite understand it.

Jealous yet?

Just kidding.

For real though, check out my new wheels for the next 14 days:

Pete: For the first time in my life, I have full Dura Ace components (minus the SRM).

Its on.

I arrived back home in Upstate, quite certain that there wouldn't be any food in the 'fridge', since I will be the only one feeding for the next week. I was mistaken.

Blueberries Anyone?

Whirlwinds During Downtime

3 Days in Boston, 7 Days at my Family Reunion, 2 Days at Home (including rides and a tastey Salmon dinner with my Father), 1 Day in the Air, and now, a surprise visit to California....but I am only here for a blink.

Some pictures from the Family Reunion:

The view from the deck and the Girls Town window (above).

Sunset on Square Dancing Night (above).

Adirondack chairs, in their appropriate place.

Hellyer tonight for Friday Night Racing. Should be a fast one.

Downtime

We stayed in some 'resort' town 'similar' to Myrtle Beach between Tour de Bretagne and Tour International Féminin en Limousin. This is the best scenery we found along the coast. We didn't go swimming or do any 'sight seeing', as Devon and I were quite pre-occupied with the internet access at a local pub (the only place with wifi within 30 kilometers) where we got the local flavor.

A picture by the Atlantic Coast.

The light at the end of the tunnel was Einat's appearance at my final stage of Limousin. Upon completing the race Einat asked me: "What do you want to eat?"

My response: "A burrito."

Now I have wrapped up my whirlwind stage race tour and am back in the States. In my short time back in the States, I have successfully had 4 burritos. I would like to thank my cousins and brother for making this [burrito eating] possible.

Next up: My happy place = Schroon Lake.

Who wouldn't be excited to go home.....

......when you have this to look forward to:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/32168635#32168635

Yup, headed to the camp. It doesn't have 42 rooms, but it is our camp.