It turns every hill into a downhill......

Or that is what Conrad keeps telling me. He claims it's "skills training". Kona thought is was pretty cool until she realized that she didn't get to come along. Anyhow, Conrad got a new dirt bike about 3 weeks ago, and somehow managed to fit it into the back of his minivan to get it home. He's been disappearing for hours during the day and then starting training sessions just as the sun goes down. Dishes are multiplying in the sink and nothing has been cleaned in weeks. He keeps telling me he doesn't have enough time. After I finish my 48 hour work week I role my eyes at him. I guess enough was enough. This week when I pulled into the drive way I saw what appeared to be a second bike in the drive way. My gut reaction was isn't 1 enough. Then I noticed it's mini-me size. For me! Yeah! Now I have a reason not to clean the dishes too. 

Kona isn't getting what is so fun about the bikes. 

Spectating

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about not racing that much this year. If the first race of the season is anything to go by, I'm going to love it. It was refreshing to go to a venue and just enjoy it. Days 2 and 3 of my Monterey adventure included demoing the Specialized fleet and I now have my Christmas list complete. If anyone needs ideas I want a small Era and a 48" Ruby please. I had too much fun if thats possible riding the Era around the XC course..... twice. The demo bike area closed at 5pm and I was racing to get the bike back, and I was only 20 minutes late. In 3 days I managed to squeeze in 14 hours of riding. I raced back home Saturday night and got back just in time to squeeze in 3 quick hours of sleep before heading off to work.

The highlight of the weekend was watching the short track event. The Specialized crew dominated the event taking 1st (Todd Wells) and 2nd (Burry Stander). Far more fun for me was watching Conrad suffer a little... usually he's making me suffer. Out of a 150 riders he made the top 15. In the morning he was overheard asking, "How do you race a short track". It was good to see the triathlete hanging with the xc guys. I was really impressed. 

Todd Wells and Burry Stander leading the short track with no competition in sight.
Post race hanging out with my old house mate Tom Skiles.

Conrad suffering just a little.

One of my super fun road rides along 17 mile drive. The fog was intense that morning, but .5 mile inland it was brilliant blue skies.
Just outside Monterey.
Not sure what these guys were selling at the expo.
This guy could barely walk...
Happy demo day!

I was actually pretty stoked to not be racing this week. It was great to just enjoy biking for biking and have no other purpose in mind. If every day could be like this....... :)

Sunshine!

Yesterday I made the drive to Monterey. Conrad made the drive earlier in the week to get ready for The Sea Otter Classic. At first I was a little sad to not be racing, but I quickly got over it. Not racing meant I could do whatever and not suffer the consiquence on race day. Usually in the lead up to an important race I try to stay of my feet, get proper nutrition, and I have specific training/taper plans. This week I was going to try and do the opposite. I have to work on Sunday so no racing for me. My goal is to enjoy some of the good weather and have fun riding. Mission accomplished! Day 1 here included a 5:30 road ride through some private communities. All you have to do is wave and smile and the security guards and there is unlimited access to perfectly paved roads and beautiful scenery. The only hazard I came across was a deer bolting in front on me on a descent. 

Sneaking in part 1

The first of many fences I eluded....

Just some of the many deer that I saw.
My favorite was the turkeys. The male was all fluffed up, but he didn't stick around to pose for pictures.

All in all it was a great day with some amazing climbs. I was wishing I had a compact or even a triple. Time to refuel and get ready for day 2.

Christmas Conrad

I've lived in Reno nearly my entire life, and while I don't enjoy winter as much as I did as a kid I don't quite understand Conrad's perspective. Until he got here I had the heat in the house turned down to 48 degrees which is just high enough to keep the pipes from freezing. I turned the head up to 60 for Conrad, but he still thinks it's cold. I guess jumping hemispheres and living in eternal summer or the last 17 or so years makes a person soft. He's always claiming that they're "Bred tough in Africa". I'm not buying it, and here's the proof. On what I thought was a beautiful day (mid 60's) we went or a bike ride. Conrad put on so many layers I wasn't sure he's be able to move, let alone turn the pedals. With all the red on I've nicknamed him Christmas Conrad.

At the base of the climb he shed a few layers and quickly proved that he could indeed pedal. This is the view of him I captured of him just before he disappeared out of eyesight. 

After getting home he loaded up the van to head to Sea Otter. Yep, we have a van. After he finished packing we sat down inside to eat dinner before he left. After a while we noticed that our normal audience was missing. Where's Kona? Turns out she packed herself into the van and was trying to be as quiet as possible. Hoping beyond hope that we would take her. She knows after last summers fun car trips that only fun things happen on trips involving bikes. Some of her fun included grabbing a skunk by the tail. After 6 months and many home deskunking remedies the smell finally went away. With her attempt at hiding thwarted she got packed up and sent to grandma's house.

STARTING OVER

New starts can be something we choose or something that is chosen for us. This year, my world is completely different from the one I left behind last year. My website crashed and it has taken me a few months to get the new one up and running. I had a stress fracture in my foot that kept me from running for 8 weeks, so there was no outlet for frustrations. The nursing job I was supposed to start was cancelled and the job marked looked bleak for a while. Travel nursing positions were few and there were many applicants. It was a trying time for me, but I decided to come back to Reno where I knew I could find work. To add to the stress of bills piling up, Conrad left for his winter break back to South Africa at the end of November and it was a REALLY tough 4 months apart. So we're starting over.

Conrad arrived back in Reno on the 21st of March which interestingly is the first day of spring and probably my favorite time of year. We are renting a really neat older house complete with a garage and a full basement. It's so nice to finally have a place to put our belongings. On my days off we drove to Bend, rented a Uhaul (again) and moved all our stuff back to Reno. We'll be here at least until November, and then ??? Who knows? What I do know is that we are professional movers. We can fit all our belongings in a 10ft x 10ft storage unit and load a Uhaul in under an hour.