Are You Living It?

Butterflies on a Christmas Tree… such a wonderful idea, thanks for sharing BH.

My pal M Cody took this in Boulder, CO… hilarious!

Love my MotorTabs!

My new teammate Susannah… aka Ms. Hottie, she’s now fully aware of the freaks that I attract on training rides and time with k2 is always an adventure!

The above photo of the Rocky Mountains (they make me smile) was provided by a new friend of mine, it’s amazing how paths cross in life and new friends are made by “chance.” I truly believe in fate and destiny and this is only heightened by the wonderful people that have entered my life over the past few years…

On our ride yesterday Susannah and I saw our fair share of cars with Christmas trees on top (like the one above) I’m sorry but by the time Christmas Day comes around these poor lil’ trees are probably going to be brown or the needles not able to hold a candy cane… some peeps just RUSH the holidays too much! My neighbors have their entire house lit up and decked out in EVERY tacky Christmas decoration you could ever imagine, and some I would consider a nightmare if you did…
No, I’m not the “Grinch” but come on, let’s slow down and let the Thanksgiving Turkey digest before we leap on the back of Rudolph.

I never got a chance to know Mark but he was a member of my new team and from what I’ve heard and read he was a remarkable friend, father, husband, cyclist and teammate. He will be missed so much. I hope all my dear cycling friends are safe this holiday season with the crazy traffic, please wear your helmets and be cautious.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/25/BADV14C2V3.DTL

That is the ultimate question… yes, I headed out looking to do around 3hrs on a nice fall base ride with MD and SB and ended up logging 6hrs in the ol’ saddle (rode to meet them and added 1.5hrs). I haven’t done over 4hrs in months and to be honest hadn’t ridden my bike in 2 weeks! It was a grand ride though, with perfect weather, blue skies, and a sweet climb thrown in too. Here’s a pic of some lasting fall colored leaves, miss my east coast fall so this will have to suffice. Now I’m beat to a pulp mentally and physically… tough to get my study on tonight but extremely satisfying to know I can still hammer it out. More proof I’m an Endurance athlete through and through…

I’m burying myself for the next few weeks in some major Grad School work so tune in later to see if I make it out alive when I’m finished with my first Qrt. at JFKU! I’m using tons of my newly learned techniques like relaxation exercises such as Circle Breathing (article by my Professor Tonya Johnston) and Imagery… of me making all A’s on my exams and papers (another article written by my Professor Karlene Sugarman)

http://www.velonews.com/article/84963/what-about-caffeine-after-exercise

yippee… more reason to continue my addiction, though I’ve always used this to aid in performance and recovery. Just the word Coffee makes me smile.

Haywood awarded damages for losing Olympic nomination

American mountain bike racer Susan Haywood was awarded over $300,000 in damages by a US Federal Judge on Thursday for being unfairly being removed from the USA Olympic team in 2004.

Haywood was originally nominated to the US team by USA Cycling, but an appeal launched by fellow competitor Mary McConneloug overturned the nomination.