Before you ask...

There's been a tragic accident, involving a tall building and a piano.And so I'm single again still.

Bring it.

Shy or Stupid

Tropic Thunder: The funniest movie I've seen in a long time. And one of my spin songs from this past week was playing during the credits! Weird.

I had a great ride with Marty yesterday. I'd asked him if we could start late and do a chill ride, because I was feeling weak, and because the day was shaping up to be a scorcher.

Scorcher 6. This time it's different.

He said, "sure." So we met up at 10, cruised over to Cal Berkeley to watch the last of the tree sitters' shifts up in the last occupied tree, which was one of several that were finally being bulldozed right then and there, with the police out in force, after months and months of anti-tree-killing tree-sitting demonstrations (I can't believe I didn't bring my camera). And then we made a few false starts up into the hills (we were halfway up when we were turned around by the gatekeepers of some lab, where they were probably doing top-secret brain experiments on newly-flatlander-former-treesitters) and then tooled around a pretty seminary up in Tilden that Marty showed me, and then did the 3 Bears (hot!!!) and El Toyonal-Lomas Cantadas [El Toyonal, from Camino Pablo to Lomas Cantadas, 192 meters climbing in 2.3km distance. Lomas Cantadas from El Toyonal to Grizzly Peak, 152 meters climbing in 1.2km distance (total 344 meters climbing in 4.5 km). Steepest section, 15% consistent grade for about 1km], for a total of 50 miles. I've only done the El Toyonal route 3 times, each time on a different bike. First, as a brand newbie on Wendy's old steel too-big Marinoni in March or early April 2007 (Marty's a twisted, twisted man), then on my first bike a couple months later, and then on my new crash replacement bike over a year after that. My new bike seems to have liked it the least. My front wheel kept jumping off the road on the steepest portions, I'm sure because of the upright positioning (though I'd thought it was lower than my first bike). Got my already redlining heartrate going faster, just contemplating a wheelie up a steep hill, while clipped in.

And chill? Hm. Everything's relative. But truth be told, neither of us would have done it alone, and it was great to get a nice hard workout, we agreed. Plus, I'd gotten to sleep in a bit!

So during the ride, Marty reminded me of the time we'd first met. We'd all gone out for pizza at Lanesplitters after Mark's spin class. This was before I'd started cycling; Marty said I was super quiet in those days, kept to myself with my baseball cap covering 3/4 of my face at spin class, and he couldn't decide if that meant I was shy or stupid, and then he ultimately decided that it didn't really matter because I was pretty.

Does this guy know how to compliment a gal, or what?! And what depth of character! Joking aside, it did kinda scare me that shyness could be mistaken for stupidity, though I know outgoing people make a better first impression. Wait...we did agree it was shyness...?

Marty strongly recommended Tropic Thunder; he'd just seen it the night before. Scott was kind enough to indulge me. And now I must recommend it to you. Absolute, pure brilliance.

And now, an official 2008 Team Oakland photo, taken this morning, courtesy of Lauren's camera (I'd only managed to capture the gals with the green machine; it was early.):

"Have you eaten dinner tonight?"

said the checkout girl at Trader Joe's.

I'd made it there at 8:45 pm, just in the nick of time, after spinning 910 calories out of my body. It was my only chance to go. I was trying to be good, you know, get things done.

Immediate salivation surge. "No" I said, rapt as she bagged my two boxes of mochi. I had just spun 910 calories out of my body, after all. I really did try my best. I knew I had lettuce and an heirloom tomato in the fridge, so I'd gotten the rest of the makings for salad! I got low fat yogurt!**

"Oh. What are you going to have?"

How could she be so cruel? "Whatever's closest to my mouth when I get home."

But then I thought about what I was trying to accomplish here, and, once home, I set about making a salad.

Is there anything in the world more tragic than an unopened bag of soupy, once premium baby greens, and a once-succulent $5 heirloom tomato from Whole Foods now rotting in a plastic baggie, after you've just gone salad accessory shopping?

It wasn't at all fabulous. But at least I didn't eat the mochi*.

*Update: I had some mochi. Stay away from the Green Tea flavor. I know it seems like a good idea. But just trust me.
**Update #2: So...turns out it's high fat yogurt. Oops.

---

My BFF finally made it to spin tonight, after a long hiatus. Yay!!! He made things interesting, like when he asked me conversationally if I was hydrating, while I was at threshold and trying to force out instructions without hurling. And like when we were about 8 minutes through our second hill drill (this one was 18 minutes long) and I let on that we still had about 10 minutes left, and he yelled

"WHAT?!"

in a knee-jerk reaction kind of way, like I was completely insane. And everyone looked up, like maybe they should re-consider the drill. I sensed a mutiny. Classic Larry. Don't know why I thought it was Dave who'd said it, but I was at threshold again, and trying really hard to remember what minute we were on and not hurl.

The jury's out on Cuban hip-hop for Slow Frequency Revolutions, but I had to try it.

Giving it time.

Ran a 9-mile trail race yesterday. I got 5th out of 13 in my age group. Well it was really 6th, because Courtenay would have easily won our age group if she hadn't been so far off the front that she'd gotten lost, tacking on an additional 2.5 miles.

Solidly mediocre. That's OK, I'm still in the beginning stages of my running training plan, such as it is (I have no running training plan). Not that I'd be any better over time, but I did notice that if I'd been a year older, I'd have won the 40-49 age group. Heehee.

I stretched during the awards ceremony/raffles (I had my camera at the ready, but they didn't pronounce Courtenay the winner of her 11.5 mile race, because there wasn't supposed to be an 11.5 mile race, but I think they should have made one, retroactively), thinking how brilliant I was to do so, because I wouldn't be sore the next day. Then, I realized I was right near Target, so I decided to go pick up some stuff. I stopped at B Cubed* (next door) first, and sat on all 4 floor models of their massage chairs, rotating through for about an hour, staring into space and holding a pillow that I ended up not buying because I was way too relaxed to stand in line, and did I really need a stupid pillow? And then I ultimately decided to skip Target because did I really need to go to stupid Target?

I was terribly sore this morning when I hobbled out of bed (My quads! No fair, I stretched! My heel! My heel?? That's a new one.) to prepare for a ride arranged with Mel when she'd called me at midnight, after a drink-filled evening. But it turns out, you use different muscles to ride, so it was actually OK. You do use the same electrolytes though; my thirst was insatiable.

*Bed, Bath, and Beyond

wash me

When I got home from work today, I was irritated to see a postcard stuck in my driver's side window. I hate it when people do that. I yanked it off the rubber dealio and headed for the trashcan, just inches away from me, and as I got ready to toss it in, I read it. DoneRight Auto Spa.

Looked around.

My car had been the only one accosted.

My headlights are quite yellow. Kinda like a blackish yellow, really. I actually thought the bulbs needed replacing the other day, but then I realized they're just that dirty.

I kept the card. Free pick up and delivery. I'm going to call them tomorrow (card says "call today" but they are not the boss of me).

IBSADD

Listed in the DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders V -- currently in consultation, and not yet published, which is why you've never heard of it, doubters, and you know who you are!), it stands for Intervallic Black Sheep Adventurer Depressive Disorder. IBSADD is characterized by pervasive low mood, loss of interest/pleasure in the usual pleasurable activities, and an insatiable desire for powdered recovery drink stirred with a Nutter Butter ("Butter Nutter" if you're German), other people's french fries, and floppy hats. "Intervallic" because it persists strongly only in the period of time between two events:

1. The last Epic Black Sheep Adventure, which took place during the first week of August; and
2. The next Epic Black Sheep Adventure, to take place the first week of next August.

The interval stretches before me now at its longest. Too long to contemplate. Woe is me! I am consoled only by the fact that it will be shorter tomorrow, and even shorter the day after that. The pain will subside to a dull ache (assuming I don't asphyxiate on a Butter Nutter or that I haven't somehow misread the signs for a ruptured Appendix and end up dying on the way to the hospital or something). Anyway, this debilitating disorder is my excuse for not having posted about my trip until now.

Some Highlights

On the plane to Vegas, we got the Southwest flight attendant to do the safety demo with Courtenay's helmet on:Bryce was pretty damn cool...Riding through Zion National Park blew my mind...Hiking near sheer cliffs on the rest day, when I could hardly walk a straight line, was totally worth it...

...until I made it up past the switchbacks and got to the you'llneedtoholdontothesechainsforthispart section...At which point I was one of a very small number of the group who turned around.

I was not made to happily look over ledges. I get dizzy. Which is not good on ledges and such. Not good.

So anyway, there were spectacular storms with thunder and lightning, beautiful rainbows -- at one point leaving Marble Canyon, it was raining, yet sunny, so I said, "that means there must be a rainbow somewhere!' and Mark told us to turn around, and there it was. An entire rainbow. End to end. But of course my camera battery had died early that morning, so here:

And we drank lots of beer! In Utah! (Can't believe you were worried there'd be no beer.)
..hung out at the Grand Canyon's north rim on scary ledges and such, and then watched a storm roll in (afternoon storms are common this time of year, and they kept the unbearable heat out, which was great)...




















And took turns getting our Floppy Hat portraits taken by esteemed photojournalist C. Redis (and whoever took her photo...maybe the bear?), who appears suggestively below in pink:

And I won all the week's races except for one (of which I won the first stage, it must be noted), excluding all the people who didn't count on any particular day, and including all the other people who didn't know/care that we were racing.

And then I got home and (depressedly) ran 10.5 miles the other day like it was nothing. Because we'd been cycling, hiking, and sleeping at 10,000 feet!

Vegas Bound!

Well, actually Utah. Vi(v)a Las Vegas.

I'll be riding my bike to Bryce, Zion, and the north rim of the Grand Canyon with Black Sheep Adventures for a week! We were supposed to bike up to Oregon, but the California wildfires threw a pedal wrench into that plan. Anyway, it's like the bike. Something goes wrong, and somehow you end up with something better.

I've been wanting to see the canyons of Utah since Thelma and Louise came out, all those years ago....

It is going to be hot, hot, hot.

Pictures to come!