Woodsy

Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic

Last weekend I celebrated my 36th year of existence by racing the Cherry Blossom Cycling Classic.  Because you can have cake and ice cream ANY day.  A weekend of racing in the gorge with your teammates is a lot more memorable.  Although some parts you may not want to remember!

Day 1- Road race, 40 miles.  The plan was to stay protected and work only if necessary.  I have no problem with that!  The road was more narrow than Banana Belt, with more racers (37), so there was not a lot of room to move.  Found myself near the middle to back until the road turned up the long hill where the pack strung out.  First lap, this hill was pretty uneventful.  Fast forward to the second lap.  One gal is sitting on the front basically the entire time.  I'm wondering if she knows what she's doing, but that will become evident later.  We started up the long hill a second time, and per the plan I am watching the front.  Two riders, one who I know is strong and the other who has been pulling the whole time, start forming a gap.  My teammate's race advice is in my head: if there's a break and your team is not in it, you are LOSING.  Time to work.  My HR went from 143 to 176 in those 3.5 minutes of climbing.  I manage to hold on to the front two and on the last part of the hill it was just the three of us.  Unfortunately, we still had about 7 miles to the finish at that point.  We took turns for a about a mile, or what felt like at least a mile, and when we started uphill again I popped.  A few minutes later, I saw the gal who pulled the entire lap start to motor off on her own.  WOW.  I started the long downhill stretch into the wind, and downhill is not my forte'.  Didn't look back but knew the pack was gaining.  They caught me and it became SO much easier!  I managed 4th in the sprint, so 6th for the day and 36 seconds down. 

Photo courtesy of Shellie Holk, Sorella volunteer extraordinaire.

The "Sea of blue" before stage 1.  I'm still working on my game face.  

Day 2- Circuit race, 5 laps, 30 miles.  My first mechanical in a race.  Left foot would...not...clip...in.  From the very start.  I did the pedal dance for the first couple of miles.  Toe down.  Toe up.  Wiggle sideways.  Stand up.  Haul ass back to up the pack and repeat.  No go.  The left pedal had always been a little harder to get into, but of course catastrophic failure happened the moment I started racing (it even clipped in during warm-up).  At one point I thought I had it in, and it slipped out the moment I started applying pressure to go uphill.  Not good and definitely not safe to ride in a pack.  In a stage race you have to finish each stage in order to go on to the next.  So I cruised 4.5 laps solo, my left foot sitting lightly on top of the pedal.  The sun was out and I was out on the bike.  Now the only other thing I want for my birthday is a new cleat.  And thanks to Judy and her connections out in the Dalles, I received!

 
The spectators and volunteers were very supportive.  Each of the 5 times I cruised by :) 

It really was a beautiful course, check it out.

 
"Orchard Run" circuit race.  Photos courtesy of Bob Reuter.

Day 3, stage 3- Time Trial, 10 miles.   There is really not much to say about this race.  It was cold.  I passed a few and didn't get passed, except one re-pass.  Although I took it very easy on my solo ride the day before, my performance was not stellar.  I did get to take the TT bike on it's first race ride of the year, and it's fun to ride- especially for 10 miles instead of 112. 

Day 3, stage 4- Criterium, 25 minutes.  The race I'd been dreading since I signed up for Cherry Blossom.   I've never done a crit, but luckily this is an "easy crit" (an oxymoron if there ever was one).  A rectangle with nice wide turns.  The plan was to stay near the front and stay in for 12.5 minutes- the minimum to get scored, as we were told at the start.  The stay-near-the-front part of the plan was blown within about 15 seconds in and I found myself dangling.  I have to say this race hurt.  As much as I was worried about crashing, I should have been worried about hammering at threshold for 20 minutes on tired legs.  At least in a TT, you have the option to just slow down (which I did, earlier that day).  Here, it's slow down and get dropped and eventually pulled.  Managed to stay on the second group- we were pulled at 20 minutes so didn't "get to" sprint, which didn't tear me up too much :)  SO glad to be done.  A few more thoughts on criteriums. It was fun to be part of the downtown action, with lots of people constantly yelling and encouraging you (GET UP THERE!!!).  Not sure if it's better or worse that I know what to expect next time.  My legs don't really know the word "sprint", they are better in the long haul, but with practice that could be improved.  Fast twitch baby.

AND crit photos are pretty bad-ass.  Courtesy of Tim Schallberger who took a ton of amazing shots for our team.

Sorella sister Christine and myself.  I probably should not be braking here.

 Cornering.  And again, braking.  I assure you I am also thinking "inside pedal up", though probably unnecessary given how wide the turns were.

Overall it was an awesome weekend.  My first stage race is in the books.  There is another coming up in June called the Elkhorn Classic Stage race and I'm currently on the fence.  The road races are 76 and 101 miles.  That is a LONG day if you get dropped, or even if you don't.  Also, I went ahead with PRP injections for my patellar tendinitis this week.  Biking should be OK starting next week, but I'll probably need a second round in 6-8 weeks.  Being able to run again is my priority and I'm optimistic that this will kick the healing into gear.

New age girl

That's right, I'm now officially in the 35-39 age group- yeah!  And I really did feel older on my long ride today- blah.  I'm blaming this:

Exhibit a) Dinner last night was sushi and this beer, in the 22 oz size bottle.  NUMBER ONE! 

Or it could've been this:

b) "Super Dry" also in a 22oz bottle.  How about this vending machine though?  Hai!

Or maybe it was this:

   
c) is for Cupcake. The Red Velvet Cupcake appeared to have the largest frosting-to-cake
ratio of all the dessert options.

Probably d) all of the above. 

I had a swim workout on my birthday, of all things.  Considered doing something significant like 35 x 100y, then came to my senses and stuck to the scheduled 3000y :)  The day just got better from there as you can see above.  Today I did a 75 mile bike ride and some wine tasting, in that order although it could have been combined as we did ride through wine country.  Thanks Sarah, Tom and Del for a great weekend and everyone for the cards and wishes!  And I have some cool new cycling socks to debut soon- thanks Mom!  AND Girl's Night out will happen in about 2 weeks.  Beth returned to the U.S. today, from her work trip to Taiwan, but next weekend is Big Training Day aka "BT Day" that will put the kibosh on any Sat evening celebration.  Some of you may remember from last year "BT Day" (the Original) and "BT Day Two, Return of BT".  And now, Iron Chick is back in "BT Day Three, Why are we Doing This Again?".  And stay tuned for "BT Day Four, Iron Chick Goes to Camp" for release on Memorial Day weekend.

Grandma's Birthday

You betcha!  Along with the many Ironman and end-of-season celebrations I've attended recently, I made it to my Grandma's 90th Birthday party last weekend.  Off to the bustling metropolis of Alvarado, MN- pop 371.  Mom was already there. 

   
G and I in the kitchen.  Never realized her jacket matched the wallpaper!

The weather tends to be very humid but was actually pretty nice in September.  I had some of the straightest, flattest runs ever; see my motionbased for some amazingly linear elevation and route profiles.  Alvarado is at a crossroads so you do have the choice of going North, South, East or West.  Each direction looks pretty much the same but hey, at least there are options.  Also since it's so flat, drivers can spot you from miles away and will move over to the other lane to accomodate since they're nice like that.  Besides running, a lot of time was spent doing what we Norwegians do best - drinking coffee and visiting.  It's no wonder I like to do that here too- it's in the genes.

Over the next couple of days my cousins came up from "the Cities" and we were entertained by their kids including the newest member of the family, Isaac (9 mos).

I love other people's kids!

 
Love this pic too, lifted from my cousin Sarah's album: Addison and Isaac. 

On Sunday we all crammed into the back pew at church (Lutheran joke) and then set up for the party in the afternoon.  There was a LOT of ham salad for the 100 people who showed up to help Grandma celebrate.  I find that number pretty impressive considering she's outlived a lot of friends and family!

 
Grandma and the whole fam-damly, incl 2 children, 3 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

My cousin Drew, third from front right, played Happy Birthday on the piano.  The pastor said a few words.  The only things missing were the poem and song from my mom and uncle, and a flute duet from my cousin and I...oh ya, inside family joke.  Speaking of jokes, my grandma told me that she would like me to get married sometime in the near future so she can come to my wedding before she dies.  No pressure!  I told her she should plan on making it to 100 then :o)

I wasn't really thinking when I booked my travel and ended up missing two nights of sleep- one going and one coming back.  Did you know that flights actually leave at 5am from Grand Forks, ND?  That's 3am for you and me in Portland, and yes I went to work upon my return from 2pm to 1am (crashed before my shift ended at 2am).  That was tough even with my IV-coffee mug, but worth it. 

Birthday hijinks

My birthday week concluded with Girl's Night Out on Saturday night.  As usual, it did not disappoint!  We started off with dinner at Lauro Kitchen on Division in SE Portland.  I would highly recommend it.  When I asked how the place was chosen, I was told it was "geographically desirable".  Hmmm.  I'm not familiar with the area so didn't have a clue.

Here's a hint

Have you seen this sock monkey?

This monkey was seen hanging from the ceiling at Pix, a fancy dessert place.  Can I say food orgasm on this blog?  Well, I just did.  Then it was time for gifts.  Apparently my friends think I need to indulge my vices. 

That is a hella lot of chocolate and alcohol.  Should get me through post-marathon week.

Bobbi Jo covered all the chocolate bases, including choc-covered strawberry bits that are "like crack".  One package didn't quite make it into my gift bag...Bobbi Jo confirmed that yes, they are like crack.  Also got the subtle hint that it's time for me to have another party, and no party is complete without a "blow up limbo stick".  Thank you Beth!  Just for that, there might also be cocktail meatballs with grape jelly!

I should mention that Pix is a classy place despite the hideous mustard-colored wall in these pictures.  Yikes.

   
Latte' shirt from Sarah

Now when I go into Starbucks, I can order by simply wearing this shirt:  1 shot, nonfat, sugar-free vanilla, extra-hot latte.  It's a lot to say.

The night goes quickly downhill...

The paper bag was included, 'cause I'm discreet like that.

And hits "bottom"

Have you seen the "Butt Joint Studio" on Division?  We think it's a children's photography place; kind of disturbing actually.  But we couldn't pass up a good photo opp with the sign.

Older and "wiser"

More of a wise-ass maybe.  Yesterday I celebrated my fifth anniversary of turning 29.  A most excellent day- thank you all for the cards and wishes!  Since it's now the day after, I feel safe from potential embarrassment and can blog about it.  Saturday night will be girl's night out, and there's always potential there, but any embarassment will most likely be brought upon myself!  Should be pretty mellow as we are just over one week away from the Flying Pig marathon- get excited! 

B-funk week started on Monday with a group run followed by a Eugene/Flying Pig marathon send-off dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory.  Great turnout!  Ended with a table of 20+ people singing Happy Birthday to me - embarrassing but I got an excellent ice cream dessert out of it.

And speaking of PIG, the weekly happy-haps hour happened last night with Tom, Sarah, and special guests Lindsay and Beth.  Dinner was followed by Lemon Poppyseed cake (my favorite Clif-bar flavor).  Unfortunately those Clif bars are not available anymore as far as I know.  I'm guessing Beaverton Bakery doesn't offer Banana nut bread or Blueberry crisp flavored cake yet.  Maybe they should.

Only 10 candles to avoid a major fire hazard.  Safety first!  And that's how many come in a box. 

I have no idea who that beer belongs to.  I do know that fork came out of Tom's nice silverware drawer.  And the ice cream came from our bartender Chris.  I really needed that let me tell you.  Suffice to say I have blown my sugar calorie budget for this week and next.

Can't remember what I did last weekend, but I can remember a few of the more remarkable birthday celebrations in my adult life.  My birthday resume'

- A not-so-memorable night celebrating my 21st at the Rocking R Bar, Bozeman MT.  There are pictures, so I know how it all ended.  Those pictures are now in an undisclosed location, so don't even ask!  Since then the R-bar has sold out and now caters to yuppies instead of the college crowd, and the bathrooms aren't disgusting anymore.  It's just not the same at all. 
- Riding the "Texas Giant" wooden roller coaster at Six Flags followed by an evening out on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, 1998.
- Celebrating with my good friends Becky and Stu while living in Albuquerque, NM.  I seem to recall some singing and scoring a free balloon at TGI Friday's!  This was in 1999-2000-ish.
- Also in New Mexico, my co-worker Ray brought in a made-from-scratch multi-layer cake created in his own kitchen.  Awesome!!
- Very long day working in the fab on my first assignment in Portland, 2001.  Good times.
- Having dinner with my mom on the pier in Boston a few days after the Boston marathon, 2004.  Back in pdx, a Strawberry Shortcake theme party at McDonalds with the girls.  Yes that was also in 2004, for my 30th :)  Followed by the drag show and male revue at Darcelle XV- ha!  I would have posted a picture but couldn't find one suitable for this PG-13 blog.  The girls really outdid themselves for that milestone birthday.  Can't wait for the next big one (someone else's).
- Suprise celebration at Maggie's after the Monster Cookie ride in 2005.
- Seafood dinner with the folks in Alexandria, VA.  Again, a few days after the Boston Marathon 2006.
- 2007 marked the onset of CRS.  That is, Can't Remember S*%#.  BJK, what the heck did we do last year?  We were drawing a blank last night.

Thank you for joining me on this trip down memory lane.  Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.  How about that weekend forecast?  yeeeaahh baby- might not be too bad.  I will post some pictures from this Sat night, if suitable for posting.

Have your cake

and eat it too.  Then go ahead and have another piece.  And the next day?  Have more!  Go shorty, it's your birthday...

Sarah's big day fell on Tuesday of last week (3/25- mark your calendars!) but who celebrates on a Tuesday?  Not much can happen on a Tuesday night.  So like the good friends we are, we helped her stretch it out into the weekend. 

Friday night we held birthday happy hour at our usual locale: Bugatti's in Hillsboro.  Birthday happy hour is much like regular happy hour except you'll be having cake with your alcohol (thanks Tom!).  I didn't get any pictures, but some day I'll have to get one and give a shout out to our favorite bartender Chris.  Maybe toward the end of one of our 7-hour marathon happy hours!   

Saturday night was GNO (Girl's Night Out).  NBA (no boys allowed).

Can you believe they finally let us into Andina?!

We've been DENIED several times at this place.  Maybe because we're not latin enough, or latin at all.  But this weekend our mission was accomplished!  The service was, shall I say, tantalizing?  Our waitress really made us want ALL the specials.  Real bad, right away, right there on the table.  We started simple with deep-fried mozarella cheese sticks.  Maybe they were more slightly more exotic...oh yeah, stuffed yucca sticks.  With cheese sauce.  Drinks: two mojitos, a caipirinha, and a pisco sour.  Not sure what everyone else had..HA!  I had to get the pisco sour because it has egg whites, so basically it's a protein shake.  That one can go in my food log.  Oh and then we got a pitcher of jungle juice (aka Sangria).  Fruity.

Sarah's gift from Beth was immediately useful.  A Sangria bong, cleverly disguised as a small watering can.

Other gifts included chocolate, a massage gift certificate, and the one I'd like to steal the most: Casino Royale on DVD.  We are SO watching that one on trainer night. 

 
There was no cake here, but there was dessert.  Oh yes there was.

We headed west from Andina to check out the girly theme at Saint Cupcake, a cupcake bakery with pink motif.  I had two cupcakes because a) they're small and b) I had a 20 mile run to do the following morning.   Something has to get me through.

And there was cake- YES!!!  Objects in this picture may be smaller than they appear.

We capped off the night with wine and random texting (not at all related) at Ten 01, another fancy restaurant in the Pearl with an extensive wine list.  Really can't go wrong here. 

Happy Birthday Sarah- here's to another year of age-group ass-kicking.  Lucky for me we will never be in the same age group :o) 

Watch for us to pop, lock and drop it about one month from now at the next birthday celebration...

Betty Joh's Birthday

Last Saturday night we took Bobbi Jo out for her 21st ;o) birthday celebration.  The girls haven't gotten together in 2 MONTHS because we are such the world travelers.  So we made up for lost time.  First stop was dinner followed by a show at Tony Starlight's, where we were entertained by the sleazy lounge singer's antics and he enjoyed cozying up to our "living doll, Betty Jo".  Picture it

   
Oh yeah!  Right there. 

Tony was quite the character, and he rocked the Love Boat theme.  C'mon you remember...

Love, exciting and new.
Come aboard.  We're expecting you.
Love, life's sweetest reward.
Let it flow, it floats back to yoooouuuu...

The Love Boat
Soon will be making another run.
The Love Boat
Promises something for everyone!

Yep, I know you're singing it by now.  And you can picture Tony singing it too.  After the serenade she was treated to cake.

Chocolate cake with red wine!  We all graciously helped her out with the cake.

We skipped the Banfield Motel across the street and proceeded to (English accent ON) the Chesterfield.  Not really an English place at all, much more hip.  I had a yummy seasonal drink called the Harvest Moon that Sarah noted was like "drinking applesauce".  Which doesn't actually sound very good but believe me it was!  We finished off a round of strawberry shots and moved on to the Nite Hawk where we summoned another round of shots.  On to Portland's only Tiki Karaoke bar, The Alibi.  We might need one by the end of the night.  Beth, Bobbi Joh and Sarah busted out Queen of Hearts while Alannah carried the clapping accompaniment.  I can't sing; see Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding.  It would be kind of like that but WORSE.  Yet I did sing karaoke when I was in Japan.  Picture Woodsy towering next to a Japanese guy named Akasaka-san performing a duet with the song "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync.  This actually happened, no joke.  Talk about culture clash.  Back to The Alibi, you may have noticed that we all picked up an 'H' in our names.  This was soley for the purposes of confusing some poor drunk guy who came over to introduce himself.  "It's Sarah, with an H.  Bobbi Jo, with an H" (and so on).  The night was a total blast, we all made it home and got a much-needed extra hour of sleep.  Thank you and goodbye DST!